Three Kingdoms, Three Messengers
by LitD
Summary: China is plagued by inner unrest and bitter rivalries between the imperial court, its eunuchs and its provincial lords. As order collapses three ambitious men are plunged into the maelstrom. Declared "Messengers of Heaven" will they save China or damn it?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Koihime Musou, at all.**

**A concept that appeared almost immediatly after trying the trail version of Koihime Musou. With three main factions wouldn't it be interesting if all three had a "Messenger from Heaven" to justify their claim to uniting China under their banner?**

**Afterwards I gathered more information, watched the series, found out about the changes in Shin Koihime, learned about the novel on which the franchise is based and the history behind it and the urge to write something like this only grew. The time period and the heritage of the "Messengers" was a bit of an accident as during my readings I found a photograph presenting a "Foreign Soldier" whose appearence led me to think of them, as it turned out several people reached similar conclusions and the vision stuck. I tried to rech a healthy mix of history and fiction in this one.**

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- 'Here they come!'

It was a matter of stating the obvious as it was difficult to miss the mass of men picking up pace as they closed the distance between the two armies.

- 'Archers! Make ready!'

Those called upon made a last check of their bowstrings before drawing an arrow from their quivers and resting the groove on the string and slid their fingers onto the string itself before waiting for the next order. The dark mass slowly changed into individuals and individuals had faces, than traits and than mutilations, missing ears, eyes and noses… traits of punishments for minor offences.

Kocho frowned, at times she hated her hawk like eyes as the various mutilations reminded her that many among the Yellow Turbans had had no desire to become bandits, becoming so out of desperation to either escape high taxes and the justice that enforced them. The woman forced herself to remember that these people, though originally maybe victims, had resorted to violence against those weaker to sustain their selves. That was enough.

- 'Loose!'

She gave the order, drawing and loosing her bowstring as she did, her arrow followed by a thousand others. Even as the arrow flew she had already drawn another and fitted it on her string ready to be loosed on the enemy.

- 'Ready!'

She called out and as one a thousand bows were lifted, a thousand bowstrings were pulled back. Today she would kill, for those that were unable to defend themselves, no matter how much she disliked it.

- 'Loose!'

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Men tumbled and fell, some to rise again with a curse others to try only to look down wondering why and on seeing the arrows jutting from their legs, arms or stomach they began to scream. Many simply collapsed, neither trying to rise, giving only a last sigh as their life ended.

Many would now hesitate as the distant death fell upon them only to be pushed forward by the mass behind them. Few amongst the yellow clad had led violent lives prior to donning the yellow cloth, and most of them would never had, were it not for starvation or abusive officials nominated by the capital. If they were not damned before becoming Yellow Turbans they most definitely were now and that damnation gave them a grim courage, either they swept aside this army opposing them or they would all die.

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- 'Now?'

- 'Not now.'

The Yellow Turbans slammed into the readied ranks with a cry. Men screaming, rendered flesh, shattered bones, breaking spears and the dull thud of attacks being blocked sounded out louder than any thunder making Shokatsuryo wince, despite everything she still felt uneasy around combat, the more people involved and the more distant she was from the slaughter the greater her unease. But she had a job here and people she counted amongst her closest friends expected much of her, she would not be found wanting.

- 'Now?'

- 'Not now.'

Timing was everything. Heavily outnumbered the "Volunteer Army" had to time its counter attack for maximum effect. The Yellow Turban numbers combined with courage born from desperation enabled them to trample the front ranks of the Volunteer Army and the conflict now descended into a chaotic melee. Shokatsuryo observed as more and more of the bandits poured into the broken formation, mentally blocking out those from amongst the Volunteers who were dying for the sake of her plan.

- 'Now!'

Nothing happened and the "Hawawa" Strategist looked to her companion. Chohi, or Rinrin as she referred to herself, was observing the battle with mouth hanging open and despite her previous nagging seemed not to hear the order she wanted.

- 'Rinrin! Now!'

The mouth snapped shut and Rinrin looked at the blonde for a second, making Shuri ready to repeat the order before a grin spread from ear to ear and the midget general literally jumped forward, calling her men to follow. Jumping over the front ranks Rinrin landed amongst the Yellow Turbans who had enough time to wonder what had happened before the Viper spear lashed out, breaking bones and slashing cloth and flesh. Her men reinforced the lines, pushing the Turbans back who were reluctant to go anywhere near the small female wielding a spear longer than she was tall with deadly efficiency. In a heartbeat those who had pushed the furthest had been cut down and the Volunteers Army centre pushed into the hesitating turbans.

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- 'You see them yet?'

Kan'u kicked the man off of her spear and using the fact that she was momentarily free of enemies took a look around.

- 'No.'

She replied which drew a hissed curse from Cho'un as she brought her own weapon round with a sickening crack onto her opponents shoulder.

- 'Remind me why we're the bait again?'

- 'Because "somebody" bragged that she would be capable of taking on twenty thousand Yellow Turbans by herself thus influencing the decision of the imperial Commander in Chief Kashin that we would be best suited for the job.

Came Kan'us' reply, heavy with annoyance. Seemingly oblivious to the fact Cho'un skewered a wounded Turban as she replied.

- 'I knew it was something silly.'

- 'Sei!'

Came the dark haired girls voice, close to a growl.

- 'If you have enough breath to growl with you're not fighting hard enough!'

Kan'u bit back the retort she had on the tip of her tongue and concentrated on the fight. Push your way to the front, stab into the opening. Twist the blade as you pull it out or the muscles and organs will suck your weapon in and repeat. That was the theory anyway in practice there was the small problem that the other side had the intention of doing the same to you and when you multiply the number of combatants… The black haired bandit hunter had to withdraw her weapon sharply and barely managed to block the blow that would have connected with her shoulder, a shift in her weight threw the attacker off balance leaving him open for a counter that was not needed. An ally stabbed the man in the back, grabbing him by the shoulder to push him deeper on the blade before pulling it out.

This was what martial arts could not prepare anyone for, a battle. Hundreds of bodies crushed in a small space, everyone pushing to get in a killing blow. Here the fluid, graceful movements of most martial arts had no right to exist, here it was only sharp, brutal attacks, smashing aside your opponents defence and leaving him open for you next attack or, more commonly, an allies. Kan'u still had difficulty taking the necessary changes in, and truth be told she doubted she ever would.

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The Yellow Turban stabbed a powerful stab, one that would render flesh and shatter bones if it connected, drawing out the intestines as it would be withdrawn. Fortunately a soldier saw it and caught the attack with his own spear, twisted his wrists and brought it to the ground leaving the turban enough time to open his mouth to scream as Bacho stabbed him. The opening caused by the mans untimely demise was immediately used by several soldiers, forcing the turbans to give ground or be individually attacked from several sides. The girl used the sudden pause to catch her breath, how long had the fight been going on? It was difficult to say, as combat was something that made time seem to pass incredibly fast and painfully slow at the same time.

- 'General Bacho!'

She turned to look at her subordinate. The man was pointing off in the distance with a satisfied grin.

- 'It looks like we've held long enough.'

The girl turned in the direction he was pointing and had to agree with him. The rearmost of the Yellow Turbans also turned and cries of panic rose from their ranks. White stallions from the Imperial stables and the grey ranks of Kosonsans' army informed everyone that the overall strategy had worked, the Yellow Turbans had pushed too far and were now surrounded. Individuals were already breaking from the ranks in an attempt to flee the inevitable slaughter. Bacho nodded and lifted her spear, catching the attention of those closest to her.

- 'This is it! Everyone attack!'

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Ryubi nearly gagged. No matter how many times she saw it the battlefield still effected her in such a way. There had been various suggestions over time, in various thickness of disguise that she shouldn't walk the battlefield after the fight was done but she persisted, these men died because of her. Though often she allowed others to suggest courses of action the final decision was always hers and she made a point of reminding herself what the costs of her decisions were.

There had been more than twenty thousand of the rebels/bandits known as the Yellow Turbans and most, if not all, of them now lay dead. Amongst them lay the dead from three armies, the Imperial Army, the army of the lord Kosonsan and her own "Volunteers".

"Her own". She almost laughed at that. Others, Aisha, Rinrin, Sei, Sui, Shuri, Shion, and many others did all the real work. All she was was a figurehead. That did not diminish the sense of guilt at all.

- 'Toka?'

She turned at to face the one addressing her, Kosonsan walked up with a faint smile on her face though it took Ryubi a moment to recognize her, not even because of everyone's usual trouble of remembering the lesser lords name but because of the layer of red mud born from dust mixed with blood that covered her white armour. The lord walked up and rested a hand on the other lords shoulder.

- 'The generals are gathering and Kashin wants us present.'

- 'Pairen.'

She replied instead, not taking her eyes of the dead. Hearing the tone Kosonsan did not interrupt, nor express surprise at her true name being pronounced properly.

- 'There was no other way, right?'

She paused and turned around, face serious and a sense of guilt heavy on her frame.

- 'There was no way to avoid this, right?'

'Other way?' Kosonsan thought, "The only other way would be an emperor that was not a child that did not allow his eunuchs to run the country as they saw fit appointing corrupt, incompetent and/or vicious officials to rule the country while persecuting those that were not.' She did not say that however, what good would that do? Instead she chose to say.

- 'No, there was no other way.'

Ryubi nodded and allowed herself to be led away to the meeting amongst the victorious armies officers and receive her new orders.

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Though he did not understand the words coming from the mans mouth there was no mistaking the meaning as testified by the eyes that were wide open, the hands in the air and the mans entire body shivering despite the days heat, he was begging for mercy. The horsemen sighed and stabbed downward, the guttural sounds turning into a high pitched scream of pain before the man twisted his weapon and pulled it free, cutting the irritating sound short.

- 'A little excessive Stanbor.'

Another rider chided the killer in a casual tone. The man spoken to turned round as he answered.

- 'Explain which part, Hugo. It's not like he'd be able to pay a ransom.'

- 'Probably not.'

Came the friendly reply. The bear of a man named Hugo let his spear slid in his grip till the end rested on the ground. Letting the weapon rest on his shoulder he reached up and undid the clasp keeping a length of mail covering his lower face to reveal a mouth turned up in a friendly smile as well as a chin liberally coated in stubble. Hugo looked around him, taking in the scene of similarly armed men casually dispatching those of their enemy that had not been able to flee their assault. Some had already taken to pillaging the tents and wagons, an activity the man fully agreed with. There was, however, a matter that he felt he should at least mention.

- 'You seen your brother around?

- 'He's your brother as well.'

The man replied before casting a look around.

- 'Knowing Zhyv, however, I'd say he should be…'

As if on cue a woman screamed and several men turned to the source of the sound to see a heavily robbed shape burst from on of the tents, pursued by an armoured individual. The woman didn't get far before the man grabbed the loose cloth and pulled her back, the speed with which she hit the ground depriving her of her senses for a moment.

- 'He's chasing women?'

Stanbor said, disbelief heavy on his voice. The man had followed his eldest brothers action and let the spear slid to rest and undid the mail covering his face, revealing a face much like his elder siblings bar the lack of facial hair and looked to the cloudless sky were the vicious orb of fire hung unchallenged.

- 'You think the sun got to him?'

The eldest of the siblings shook his head and spat before replying,

- 'He's not chasing her, so much as what's on her.'

Stanbor frowned at the words before turning his attention back to the discussed man who was in the process of tearing off the girl's necklace. With a foot crushing her to the ground he looked the jewellery over and, with a nod, slid it into his pouch before leaning down and proceeded to remove other shiny elements.

The others nodded knowing nods before turning their attention back to their own plunder, Zhyv was infamous for his love of gold and his virtual lack of interest in all things female. Hugo and Stanbor gripped their spears tightly and kicked their horses into a walk, moving to their busy brother. Zhyv glanced up at the sound of movement but seeing who it was he turned his attention back to his captive. He made to pull off the rings, drawing a sharp cry of pain from the woman who began to say something in her throaty language and the man stopped and lifted his foot off of her. She rose to her knees and, with surprising speed, removed the rings and earrings before handing them to the man.

- 'Find much, Zhyv?'

Hugo asked in good humour as he dismounted. Zhyv didn't even turn to reply as he collected the offered gold and slid them to his pouch.

- 'Plenty. Food, wine, gold, silver and even silk along as other expensive garbage from Persia, Cathay, Nippon or some other heathen land.'

Stanbor whistled as he dismounted and approached the tent to see for himself, turning around and nodding his confirmation to Hugo after doing so. The man slammed a ham-sized fist on Zhyvs' shoulder, his grin growing even wider.

- 'Nice work, only you didn't mention one treasure.'

Zyvs' eyebrow rose at the words as if not understanding. Before he realized what was meant Hugo moved past him and knelt in front of the woman who had been edging away and now froze like a deer who realized it was being hunted. An accurate enough description, Hugo thought, as the girls eyes were large and brown and currently expressing a lot of fear, like a deer. She shuddered and tried to pull away when the man lifted his hand to her veil, only to find the butt of Stanbors spear prodding her back. She seemed to accept her fate than and did not move as Hugo's bloodstained hand undid the veil.

He whistled at the sight, Stanbor leaning in and nodded his agreement. The reaction from Zhyv was a slight upward tilt of his lips.

- 'Not bad brother, not bad at all.'

- 'True, she'll fetch a handsome price on the market.'

Any comments concerning Zhyv's lust for gold was cut off by a horn signal. The armoured men looked up from their looting and moved to their horses with grumbles varying only in volume and the amount of obscenities incorporated.

- 'Looks like they want us back in the battle.'

Zyv stated the obvious as he shielded his eyes with his hand to look at the distant dark mass barely visible in the massive dust cloud.

- 'Guess we should get going then.'

Hugo replied in a weary tone as he stood up.

- 'What about her?'

Stanbor asked, prodding the girl in question with his spear. His older brothers looked at the girl in question before Hugo knelt and, removing some of the cloths covering her, proceeded to tie her arms and legs firmly together.

- 'Behave or die.'

He said, using his limited knowledge of the local languages to form the threat. The girl nodded her compliance and the three men mounted. As the older two of the trio moved to the forming line the youngest looked back and frowned before calling back.

- 'Someone's making a run for it! See?'

Hugo and Zhyv looked in the direction indicated and had to agree that there was a shape running from them. Zhyv looked to his older brother who calmly fastened his mail back into place.

- 'So it is. Might as well let him…'

- 'He's already after him.'

Zhyv interrupted and Hugo looked up to see that his youngest brother had indeed gone off in pursuit.

- 'Damn that boy!'

Hugo snarled before looking back to the waiting men and back to his brothers' silhouette.

- 'Damn that impetuous youth!'

He snarled again before kicking back his heels, spurring his horse into action. Zhyv sighed a weary sigh before following his older brothers example.

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Stanbor couldn't help grinning as he began to catch up with the fleeing dark robbed shape as the thrill from the hunt pounded in his veins. The young man weighed his options before deciding on one. Shifting his grip on the spear he held it in an over arm grip and closed the distance. His quarry looked back and, to Stanbors shock put on a burst of speed.

The momentary surprise vanished and the mans grin was back in place as he kicked his heels back, forcing his mount to go faster. Soon he judged himself to be close enough and threw the spear. For a second it seemed to hang in the air before slamming into the fleeing mans back.

Stanbor pulled on the reins but he still managed to ride past the dead man and had to ride back. Having dismounted he cobbled his horse to ensure it wouldn't wander and, placing a foot on his preys back, pulled the spear free. Kicking the body over he gave it a quick pat down that did not produce much, a curved bladed dagger, a few coins and a small, bronze disc. Pocketing the other things the man looked over the disc, one side was richly covered in strange marks, the other was smooth and had been polished till Stanbor could see his reflection in it… a mirror. Seeing his brothers ride up he lifted a hand in greeting and called out in good humour.

- 'I beat you to this one!'

It ended in a sharp cry, more of shock than pain as the youngest of the siblings found himself in the vice like grip of the man he had slain. Stanbor was strong and fit yet the corpse knocked him off his feet and its fingers found their way to Stanbors mail covered throat.

- 'It's not for you. Not for you!'

It hissed and Stanbor had to apply most of his strength just to keep the-should-be corpse from sinking its rotten teeth into his neck. The struggle lasted only a second before the attacker was forced of the youngster. Hugo lifted the thing by its filthy hair and brought his sword around, hitting with the middle of the blade. The body fell to the ground leaving the head in the mans hand. Hugo took one disgusted look at the body part before tossing it aside.

- 'You alright?'

He asked his youngest brother, extending a hand. Stanbor nodded as he allowed himself to be pulled up.

- 'I skewered the bastard.'

Hugo shrugged and was saved the trouble of replying by Zhyvs' monotonous voice.

- 'He could have been drunk or on some other substances, clouded his judgement and made him ignore the fact that he should have died.'

Even as he spoke the middle brother knelt and picked up the bronze disc from where it had fallen during the struggle. The man looked it over with a professional eye.

- 'Looks like it's from Cathay.'

He stated, running a gloved finger over the markings.

- 'It worth anything?'

- 'Was a half penny, till you broke it.'

The man replied, indicating the point where the thin metal had been rent.

- 'Pity.' – Hugo summarised – 'But lets get back to formation before those cheap whore-son, wannabe Romans notice we're gone and deduct the fact from our pay.'

The other brothers nodded and moved to their horses, Zhyv tossing the broken mirror aside. It bounced off rocks, rending it further till it fell in two separate pieces.

Suddenly there was a light rivalling the sun and the three brothers turned to see a white light growing and didn't even have time to shout out before it consumed them.

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- 'Well done everyone, well done.'

Imperial Commander-in-Chief Kashin spoke as she always spoke; calm, assertive and confident, the voice of someone who was important and fully aware of the fact. Resting on a throne/sofa on a dais making her easily higher than any of the seated officials present she looked very pleased with herself, albeit not much like an officer, a fact duly noted by those sitting who for the most part had arrived still dusty from the field and, for a part of them, spattered with gore. Undisturbed by the difference between herself and her guests she continued.

- 'I dare to say that on this day the spine of this rebellion has been broken. Whats left of the Yellow Turbans, however, must be eradicated.'

There were nods of agreement at this and only one voice rose in question.

- 'But perhaps if the Turbans have lost the will to fight mercy could be shown?'

Several pairs of eyes turned to the speaker, many an eyebrow raised. Ryubi seemed to shrink under the combined stares but succeeded in holding them without looking down. Kashin did not reply immediately, whether due to surprise at the suggestion or trying to remember the name of a lord from a province in the western regions of the empire is debatable before shrugging.

- 'How exactly you deal with them is your choice. Should you decide that the best course of action is by offering them life you are free to do so. However!'

The sudden raised tone made several stiffen in their seat, Ryubi included. The Commanders eyes had narrowed and for the first time since the meeting started she looked the part of a warlord.

- 'These men and their families are criminals and are to be treated as such! We must ensure that others will not follow in their example. Rest assured if their treatment is not seen as sufficiently gruesome the Imperial court will find out and retribution will be certain.'

Silence fell on the tent like a physical weight, Ryubi dropping her head as she nodded her understanding. Kashin looked at each official in turn, searching for any hint of a challenge. Glad to see none she laid herself down again, her frown disappearing under a smile as if her expression had never changed.

- 'Now that we are clear on that matter let us precisely describe who is to do what in mopping up the country.'

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There was pain. Pain in the head, throat and stomach not to mention the fact that his throat was dry, had he been drinking? Forcing his eyes open Hugo looked around him and decided that was probably not the answer. Firstly he was clothed; secondly there were no unclothed women in the vicinity nor empty bottles. He was also of the type to ensure that he did his drinking and whoring indoors whereas now he was indisputably outdoors.

The man stood up and looked around, rather than the dry nearly a desert plain he was in he was currently in a forest, it was hot and in the distance rather than mountains he saw… a sea? The man spat, crossed himself and spat again at the thought of the witchcraft involved.

- 'Zhyv? Stanbor?'

He waited, and listened but there was no reply of any kind. Hugo cursed, looked around and, choosing a direction at random, began walking.

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The massive gates slammed shut, once more cutting off the imperial city from the capital. Though strange the statement was absolutely true for there was nothing tying the city of Luoyang and the Emperors palace save location and Kashin couldn't help but frown at the implications that were thrust on her from the moment she entered, outside these walls she was Imperial Commander in Chief and her word was good as the Emperors inside however she was only one of thousands of politicians, officials, concubines, soldiers and eunuchs that battled in a brutal conflict for power. To make matters worse she was at a disadvantage as her position actually forced her to leave the isolated capital to conduct her duties, allowing free reign to plot against her.

- 'Greetings noble Commander in Chief. Word of your glorious triumph over the bandit inconvenience has already reached our ears.'

"Inconvenience" Kashin had to stop herself from snarling at the thing greeting her with a smile. An estimated million Yellow turbans spread throughout the Empire that have destroyed several armies and a difficult year long campaign to destroy them as an effective force that was issued to her in the hopes of ending her rise to power and they were already downplaying it, hoping that she will not gain anything from her victory. Instead Kashin smiled and bowed slightly.

- 'You are most gracious, Imperial Advisor Chojo.'

The eunuch smile deepened as he bowed deeply. If their was anything he did not like about Kashins words or manner he did not mention it, knowing fully well of the dozens of eyes observing the exchange. Straightening the castrated stood to the side and made a sweeping gesture with her hand.

- 'The emperor awaits your report Commander.'

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- 'Report.'

- 'Sir.'

The man was still in his travelling clothes, heavy with dust from the road but he knew better than to delay delivering his report by the time it would take to wash and change, Kannei was not one who allowed minor inconveniences stall in furthering her masters cause.

- 'It is confirmed, the Yellow Turbans have been declared vanquished. A general order has been dispatched to all regional lords to continue the eradication of any remnants.'

- 'Anything else?'

The scout paused, understanding the order as one informing him the information had already been given by another and he was to continue on to the next report.

- 'There is word of the wise-man Kanro making a prophecy.

- 'Elaborate.'

Ah, something no one else had reported.

- 'Near the capital a group had been discussing word of a "Messenger from Heaven" being sent to this earth to restore order. Upon discovering that the one who made the declaration was the honourable Kanro I went to question the man who claimed to have understood the messages on heaven and earth only recently as the flight of dragons put the recent oddities into perspective.'

Pausing to catch his breath the scout lifted his eyes to catch a glimpse of his superior. She had her eyes on him, narrowed as she took the information in. Hands folded in front of her their was nothing betraying any sign of what she was thinking, the fact that she had not interrupted him, however, was sign enough that he was to continue.

- 'Little was said about this, "messenger" on questioning the best that could be obtained was that one would "obviously be such". This "prophesy" is likely not to become too widely known as Kanro is a reclusive man and not prone to "blowing his own trumpet", so to speak.'

Kannei did not reply, nor did she show any sign of anything really, the man kept his subservient position just in case. After a while she nodded,

- 'Well done. Continue your report.'

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- 'The hell is up with this guy?'

- 'Are you asking about the fact that he hasn't moved at all for the past five minutes'

- 'No Fatso, I'm talking about the fact that he's in a shirt made of metal. A metal shirt! Have you ever heard of such a thing Bro?'

Several men, armed in a motley collection of weaponry and the tattered remnants of yellows scarves tied around various parts of their body discussed the strange phenomenon that was standing on the edge of a cliff some twenty meters from them. Well, three discussed him while the rest rested in the shade of the woods that concealed both from the object of their interest and the soldiers of the local lord.

- 'No Shorty, I have not.'

The man addressed as "Bro" stated, without looking back to the others. With that silence fell. Fatso and Shorty looked at each other with a shrug of their shoulders.

- 'So, Bro. You think he's a barbarian?'

- 'Obviously not a local.'

Bro replied, finally turning around.

- 'Instead of thinking about useless stuff help me decide whether we kill him for his stuff or ditch these yellow rags and take him to the local lord and see if he'll pay a reward for bringing him a barbarian.'

- 'Ditch the Yellow Turbans?'

Shorty nearly shrieked, barely stopping himself but still saying it louder than any of the previous discussions.

- 'Actually, that's a pretty good idea… I think.'

Fatso contributed his two cents. His initial reaction over Shorty actually thought about the choice and nodded.

- 'We could go out with most of the boys, see how he reacts. And the rags…. Well there not much help to us now are they?'

Bro nodded.

- 'Right. Get the lads up and lets go talk to the man.'

Quickly and with surprising stealth the Former Yellow Turbans surrounded the man, most quietly moving out of the woods and approached him. Despite their stealth the man seemed to stiffen and turned around, causing the brigands to stop, whatever they had expected to see was not this, a man most of whose body was concealed under a grey shirt that dimly caught the midday light, even the head bare the face was covered in this material not that much of the face could be seen from beneath the iron bar extending from the bottom of a simple helmet. Perhaps most stunning for them were the mans eyes, cold and grey. Was it possible for a man to have such eyes?

Momentarily taken back by the reality of the stranger Bro was the first to regain his composure.

- 'Good day friend, it would seem that you are a tad out of place; perhaps we could help? Of course as we would be taking a break from our normal activities to do so we would need to be reimbursed for our trouble.'

The stranger did not reply, in fact after he gave the bandits a glance he turned his attention back to the valley below him. Surprised by such a dismissal Bro stood staring at the strangers back before looking back to his compatriots. Fatso looked as surprised and merely shrugged his shoulders in reply to the unasked question. Shorty, on the other hand, snapped his jaw shut and stepped forward ready to say something but was interrupted.

- 'That river, what is it called?'

- Eh? Er, the Wei if I'm not mistaken.'

Shorty answered on reflex his anger being swept aside by surprise, the look of bewilderment on the others only increasing. The stranger nodded, moving his extended hand to his chin.

- 'Wei? Wei. Where on earth do they name rivers like that?'

The man paused and turned to the bandits again, making most take an involuntary step back. Now he seemed to see them for the first time, taking a step up to Bro he stared at him for a second, seemingly oblivious to the unease he was causing or the naked steel resting in the other mans hand.

- 'You don't look like Muzelmen, nor Seljuk's… could this be Cathay? But why would I be able to understand them? What sort of black arts caused this?'

Though spoken out loud the words were not understood by any in the area nor did the strange stranger seem to expect them to. He suddenly straightened and nodded.

- 'Thank you for your time, I know what I shall do now.'

With that he turned and began to make his way to the road leading to the Wei valley below. Bewildered expressions still present on their faces the bandits merely nodded with fatso raising a hand.

- 'Safe journeys.'

Bro stood, scratching his head; Shorty likewise scratching his head walked up and commented.

- 'Strange guy, hey Bro?'

- 'Undeniably. Wonder what…'

He paused as his expression changed, a vein appearing on his forehead.

- 'Stop right there!'

He shouted. The stranger stopped and turned around, eyebrow raised. Bro walked up to him, the others following.

- 'Just for you smartass nature I decided not to be polite. Jump out of your fucking gear and get your hands out to be tied, you're coming with us.'

- 'I see.'

That was all the warning received before Bro was thrown to the ground, blood flowing from his broken nose. The shield that had up to know rested on the mans back was in his hand, it's metal boss bloody. The faint rasp of steel scraping on fleece lined wood heralding his sword being drawn. The bandits had enough time to replace their shocked expressions with ones of anger, Shorty even managed to start barking out orders before the stranger was amongst them in flurry of steal and bloodshed.

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- 'Damn it all.'

Taken out of context those may have been strange words to greet the situation in which Stanbor found himself in, when however you take into account the fact that he was balanced on a branch some five meters off the ground after being assaulted by a man he had killed and being blinded by a fierce white light and suddenly such a choice of words make perfect sense.

It should also be understandable that the mans first action was not looking around in wonder or wondering what exactly had happened but rather how to get back to solid ground. Slowly the man made his way to the trees trunk, hissing at every creak of the branch that supported him. The fear of ending up hurtling to the earth was justified, as even without the armour the man was the heaviest of the three brothers. When he finally grabbed hold of the trunk he let out a sigh of relief before making his way down. It was some two meters above the ground that he lost his grip and ended up putting more weight on a branch than he wanted, snapping it and sending him down into an undignified heap.

- 'Bloody, goddamn hell!'

He summarised his descent in a few choice words learnt from Anglo-Saxon mercenaries. With a hiss he straightened himself, succeeded in sitting upright and realized he was not alone. Several men shared the clearing with him, moving to surround him and all of them armed.

- 'Yo bro!'

- 'I do declare we got a gift from heaven!'

One greeted him as he slid a long, thin blade from its scabbard as others bustled around, commenting on Stanbors sudden arrival.

- 'That was a nice fall.'

Stanbor summarized his new situation in a few choice words even as his hand went to his weapon.

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_Found a bandit, found a bandit,_

_Found a bandit just now!_

_Just now I found a bandit_

_Found a bandit just now!_

_Hacked him open_

_Hacked him open_

_Just now I hacked him open_

_Hacked him open just now!_

Soldiers sang on four occasions; to conceal uncertainty, when bored witless, when moral was high and, most frequently, when ordered to. Judging from the song it was safe to say that this column was in high moral, and why not? They were marching home from a victory; the time to remember those left in the mud will come later.

Bar the personal guard of the Emperor and regional governors there were no professional soldiers in China, instead those in power would conscript peasants as required, issuing them equipment from their arsenals and taking those weapons away and sending them home after a term. Though the recent decade of civil unrest had led to an unprecedented rise in the numbers of guards the basis of any army still remained the conscript.

It was such a group of conscripts that, after fulfilling an obligation, were on their way home, a number of them singing a modification of a traditional marching song, the loudest being the short figure carrying a spear twice as long as she was tall, Rinrin was one to enjoy singing and not to let such minor details as melody to bother her, after all her grandfather had always said that you have to sing to keep the bears away.

Kan'u smiled as she recalled the first time she had heard the statement. Than it had been only her and Rinrin on the road and the former "black haired bandit hunter" couldn't help but marvel at how much had changed since than. China was still plagued by civil unrest, and brigands still lurked in the forests and mountains but now she was in a position to do something about it, backed by the armies of a provincial governor she could hunt down the larger bands unlike before when she could only deal with the small groups she was lucky enough to encounter, not that most people would call it luck.

Naturally with the good things came additional problems and additional work that she had not had to deal with before, such as leading conscripts back to their respective villages and oversee their disarming, the storage of their weapons and dealing with any other problems the village elder might bring up. Her mind wandering Kan'u thought to a specific piece of news she had picked up, what that caused a small sensation amongst some of those that had heard of it, most dismissing it as the fanciful ramblings of an old man.

"Messengers of Heaven", could something as convenient exist as an individual dropping from heaven and restore order to China? Kan'u sighed and shook her head; it would be good if the problems could be finally solved but she did not really believe that an immortal being would leave heaven and soil its hands with earthly affairs.

- 'Aisha?'

Kan'u lifted her head sharply at being addressed by her true name and looked down at the small form of her sworn sister who was looking at her with concern.

- 'You all right? You've been looking down for a while.'

Kan'u put on a smile and waved her hand.

- 'Just thinking Rinrin, just thinking. After all we've got a lot of work to do once we get there.'

The younger girls cheeks puffed up at the answer.

- 'Don't worry sis, Rinrin is here to help!'

- 'Thank you, that will be of help.'

The smile turned into an authentic one. Though the young girl easily got sidetracked and looked anything but serious once she put her mind to something she would follow through, even if she would complain about the task being boring for the duration of it. The remainder of the road passed to a light conversation about everything and nothing.

'"'"'"'"""""'"""''''"''"'""""'''''"""""''''''""""""""""""""""""""""

- 'Take him from the left!'

- 'Damn it man! Move up!'

- 'Stop pushing me forward!'

- 'Mama! Mama!'

Shouts, the thud of feet on the dry ground, the dull thud of steel hitting wood and the grating ring of metal on metal sounded in the clearing broken occasionally by the sound of severed flesh, cracked bones and men screaming in agony. The youngest son in a minor noble family Stanbor had frequently found himself in fights, since leaving with his older brothers to serve as mercenaries in the south the amount of conflict he saw had only increased, the testimony of his hard earned skill being the two men laying screaming in pain and a third not making a sound their blood turning the surrounding ground into red mud.

Hiding the blade behind his shield he moved his feet quickly, forcing a bandit backwards and the man stumbled, taking his eyes of Stanbor for a second as he steadied himself, that was all the opening the man needed as he shifted his weight and stabbed with the sword, the bandit not even having time to scream as the tempered steel punched through the leather covering his stomach. Stanbor swore as the blade stuck in his victims body and he had to kick the corpse off, the curse turned into a hiss as someone used the opening to deliver a slash to his back, the mail turning the steel aside but the force of the blow still causing pain.

Slashing the freed sword in a wide arc several bandits jumped back only to jump back in during the short time that Stanbor needed to bring his weapon back to a position he could use. One sword was caught in the shield, another slid off his mail but the third caught his leg, drawing a cry of pain that quickly turned into an angry snarl. The shield jumped upwards catching a bandit in the jaw, shattering teeth and sending the man to the ground, senseless. None of the bandits could say they saw the action but suddenly the sword fell, cleaving the one that had succeeded in wounding the foreigner, he fell in twisted mess of blood and shattered bones.

The third jumped back before Stanbor could do so with him and the remaining bandits closed a circle around the foreigner, cautiously like hunters circling a wounded bear. Stanbor cursed and limped back till his back rested against a tree and tried to calm his breath.

- 'So much for your gift from heaven.'

One of the bandits snarled at his companion. Six of their comrades dead or dying the bandits still closed in on the wounded man, anger as much as greed motivating them now but having seen the terrible wounds the foreigner could cause they were reluctant to actually attack, perhaps that's why one of them stepped forward and began talking.

- 'Well done, well done. Can't remember the last time I saw one man fight such odds and leave so many bodies.'

- 'In that case be thankful you're not fighting my oldest brother.'

Stanbor interrupted. The bandit spokesman paused and like most of them looked around the surrounding forest as if expecting to see a similar figure as the one they had cornered charging them. The pause was a short one and the talking bandits look of uncertainty was quickly replaced by one of confidence.

- 'You're a smart man, no? Why don't you drop that metal shirt along with your gold and we'll call ourselves even.'

- 'But Aniki!'

One of the other bandits started to protest but fell silent when he received a glare from "Aniki". Opposition silenced he turned his attention back to Stanbor.

- 'So, what do you say?'

Stanbor did not reply immediately as he thought it over, after all if they were offering negotiations than they were weakened, but than again so was he… even if he wasn't he doubted he could defeat that many as he now faced, he was however saved from giving an answer. As one Stanbor and the bandits turned at the sound of breaking branches to witness a shape burst from the tree line and rush up to the nearest bandit. A crack was heard and the man fell in a heap. Jaws fell as if on order and everyone, bandits and Stanbor took a step back from the newcomer. She had long, black hair and wore cloths that Stanbor could honestly say to have never seen before in his life and perhaps most surprising was the richly decorated polearm.

- 'Villains! Cease this at once!'

There was no immediate reply as every man in the clearing stared with open mouths at the woman. Stanbor was the first to react as he shut his mouth and turned to the bandits.

- 'Who do you think she means by villains? You lot? Us collectively? Or does she use the plural in addressing someone individually?'

- 'Who knows?'

Came the reply and a short discussion broke out amongst the men as the discussed the problem. The woman's pose slackened first, than she gripped her polearm tight till her knuckles went white before she shouted, making everyone jump.

- 'I meant you! How dare you assault this man! Leave now or face justice.'

- 'I think she means you.'

Stanbor offered helpfully, judging from the looks he got the help was not appreciated. The bandit addressed as Aniki shot Stanbor a glare.

- 'You be quite.'

He snarled before turning his attention to the newcomer.

- 'And you girl, get lost before I lose my patience!'

He stopped and took a closer look at the woman and took a step forward.

- 'Though actually, stay. Drop the weapon now and we wont even touch you before selling you off… or at least not that much.'

Neither Stanbor nor the bandits would be able to tell you what happened next, one moment Aniki was standing and the girl was several yards from him, the next she was behind him and he sank to his knees before sliding to the ground. He kicked the earth a few times and then went still. The girl regarded the remaining bandits as she shook the blood off of her weapon.

- 'What will you do?'

Came her question. For a moment nothing happened before slowly the bandits lowered their weapons and began backing off, the ones furthest from the girl turned round and ran and soon the clearing was free of bandits save the dead and dying. Stanbor was tempted to follow their example but doubted he'd be able to make such an escape with his wound. Though he never let go of his sword he turned to the girl with an as grateful a smile as he could muster considering he wasn't sure whether he was safe.

- 'I guess I should thank you for your intervention miss…'

His sentence trailed off, not only because he didn't know how to continue but also because the girl suddenly marched up to him and with an earnest expression asked.

- 'Are you alright, Messenger of Heaven?'

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The shrine was a mess. The statue that had at one time taken the prime spot was long gone as was anything that might have presented any value. Most of the roof had fallen through in several places and Kan'u found herself expecting the floorboards to give way under her weight, but that was not why she had been brought here. The dust, thick on the floor, had been disturbed while outside there were the remains of a fire.

- 'You see than lord?'

The village elder asked from the temples entrance with a tilt of his head meant to show respect.

- 'I see. There was definitely a group here… have your men found any track of where they went.

- 'Zhou?'

The elder turned to his companion who nodded and waited for Kan'u to leave the building before pointing off to the woods.

- 'Faint tracks leading off that way. I didn't want to follow them too far as I though the men might be more needed in the village in case our suspicions were correct.'

Kan'u nodded. Life, it seemed, refused to be simple. Having arrived at her destination she was greeted by the elder who reported evidence of a group camping near the village and the disappearance of some supplies from outlying fields. With Rinrin investigating the other end she went with some men to where the newest signs were.

- 'Spread out and lets search the area, we might find something more. Stay within eye distance of each other.'

A chorus of muttered confirmations sounded in reply and the group headed into the woods. Shifting her gaze from the ground to the surrounding area Kan'u marched, looking for any signs. Time passed and no visible signs appeared, the heavy undergrowth not helping matters as the moss left little trail and the shrubs forcing one to pause and pull them aside to see what little there was. Kan'u paused as something caught her eye, though for a moment she thought she saw the flash of light on metal.

Being the furthest on the right she signalled the man to her left to follow and the order was passed along the line. It wasn't long before the woman reached an obstacle in the form of a small cliff, she also confirmed that she saw light flashing in the distance as well as something else, she heard the sound of metal on metal and screams of agony.

- 'Soldier! Get the others to follow, silently mind you!'

- 'Yes lord!'

As the man passed the order Kan'u slid down the cliff and moved to the fighting as quickly as she could without making too much noise. Not being Rinrin she had no intention of charging in without getting an idea of who was fighting whom and other vital information but when she was close enough to see the combatants she paused for a completely different reason, she had simply never seen one such as the man fighting off several men still bearing the yellow scarves of the Yellow turban movement.

He was a broad shouldered man in a simple helmet and a hooded shirt that was a dark grey but occasionally shone white when it caught the light. Most of his left side was hidden behind a shield and his right held a sword, that looked more like a bar of iron that the elegant weapons she had seen produced by the armourers in the cities for the Imperial Guard. Though unimpressive the weapon smashed through a bandits body, cleaving armour, bone and muscle, a task that would break many a more elegant weapon.

Perhaps what struck Kan'u the most was what little of the face was visible from behind the helmet as the mans skin was pale and his eyes were grey. Six men know lay dead or dying and the others surrounded the stranger, his back against the tree. _"How will they look? They'll look like bloody messengers from heaven, that's how they'll look." _Kan'u suddenly recalled the words of Kanro she had overheard being discussed, admittedly not from the man himself but from others discussing his words, or more specifically, how to make them fit for writing down without losing its meaning. Kan'u felt a jolt in her chest, could this man be…

The fighting had come to a pause as the bandits tried to convince the stranger to surrender, one throwing a comment about him being a gift from heaven. It was than that she decided what to do, ignoring the fact that her men had not yet arrived she moved into the clearing.

- 'Villains! Cease this at once!'

Her demand did not have quite the effect she had hoped for as, though they did stop they did not pay her much attention either as they began a conversation about the exact meaning of her words. Kan'u felt her ears go red and her knuckles turned white as she clenched her fist tight before calling out to them again. The bandits managed to offer her terms of surrender before she lost her patience and attacked, the single casualty she caused enough to send the remainder running leaving her, the stranger and the fallen in the clearing.

Kan'u could now observe the man up close and she found him even more interesting than before, even as he began to form thanks for her intervention she decided, this was the messenger from heaven that would restore order to China.

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- 'The bitch is becoming intolerable.'

- 'I did warn you that sending her out would only increase her standing.'

- 'Deny the appointment of such a station to the Imperial Commander in Chief and the Emperors uncle? How would you possibly manage to achieve that?'

Duan Gui asked, nobody offered any reply and the eunuchs fell silent. A rarity in the capital three people were holding an honest discussion in an isolated room, well certain that nobody could listen in to them.

- 'Those descendents of a butcher are all together becoming to self important for their own good. Having the emperors' mother and the C-in-C from that family was bad enough but now we have a successful commander who may very well become popular.'

Chojo scoffed as she waved her hand in a dismissive fashion.

- 'Since when has the opinion of the masses mattered?'

- 'Never. But the opinion of the army…'

Zhang Rang left the sentence unfinished. The eunuchs fell silent for a moment as they considered the matter.

- 'It is not the first time that those uncouth savages of the army use political unrest in an attempt to move into politics… might as well allow cattle to take up office.'

Nods of agreement followed the statement and it was Chojo who turned the conversation back to its original topic.

- 'And now we have a general with support from the army and elements of the imperial city supporting her and no wars to keep her occupied and away from the capital… we need something to keep the bitch out of the way.'

She paused, letting the words sink in, seeing he had everyone's attention she began to present her thoughts.

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- 'You did too good a job.'

Kashin did not reply, though she had to grit her teeth to stop herself. The one speaking was her younger sister, more commonly known as the Imperial Mother, or the Imperial whore, depends who you asked. The sisters and several of their closest allies in the Capital sat in an isolated room within the Empresses palace as they went over the recent events.

- 'The Yellow Turbans are scattered, leaderless bands now plague the countryside but they are no longer the city sacking threat that they used to be.'

A man spoke calmly, his armour denoting him to be of the Imperial Guard. Not seeing anybody raising any questions he continued.

- 'There is nothing motivating the sending a large force under your command to fight any enemy, there is no way in which to gain the support of the masses while the bandit remnants will erode what support you caught amongst the populace as they continue to pillage…'

The man finished with a shrug. The empress finished for him.

- 'In other words we are forced to stop collecting support before we are strong enough to move against the eunuchs.'

- 'Perhaps not.'

Kashin replied, with a wave of her hand. Receiving silent permission to continue she turned to the Guardsmen.

- 'How many of the imperial guard would support us?'

- 'My men for certain… about three hundred altogether? Not all of the remainder would move against us however.

- 'And I have nearly two thousand outside Luoyang, It should be enough.'

- 'A coup? This is China, not some barbaric land to force a power change through slaughter.'

One of the officials protested, judging by the frowns several others agreed with his objection, Kashin scoffed.

- 'No, as civilised folk we prefer to use poison and daggers in the back. We have the advantage in numbers and the support of the masses. One strike and we remove the eunuchs and take control. Before anyone could object we would have full control of the capital and if they do.'

Kashin shrugged,

- 'We can always cut taxes for those that support us and execute those that resist.'

- 'A very definite method of resolving the issue, I agree.'

Came the guard officer's reply. Slowly those around the table nodded in agreement. The next hours passed as details were laid out.

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Hugo sighed as he sat down, enjoying the meagre shade offered by the trees. The man looked around and satisfied that there were no apparent threats slid his helmet off before removing his coif. Pulling free a length of cloth he wiped his head dry and let out another sigh. Standing up he approached the stream that had encouraged him to take a break here and dampened it before cooling his head and this time he let out a satisfied sigh. It was hot and humid, and the man did not enjoy the combination.

The man had spent most of the morning wandering and though had come across several settlements he was not certain about testing how the locals would treat a lone stranger, though he knew he would sooner or later have to test it. Perhaps a larger settlement where the locals might be more used to foreigners. Being a well-travelled man Hugo had meant plenty of villagers shocked to discover that there were locations further than five days travel away, such people also tended to hold little tolerance for outsiders muddling the peace of their home with their foreign persons.

So decided the man stood up and fastened the cloth around his head as a bandana and slid his coif and helmet back into place. Choosing the direction most likely to bring him to the distant sea, and in his reasoning civilisation, the man began to move only to stop shortly after as something felt out of place, a feeling confirmed by a high pitched scream. Scowling the man looked in the direction it came from and debated with himself whether he should investigate before giving a weary sigh and doing just that.

It wasn't difficult finding the source as he merely followed the angry shouts that turned into vulgar profanities and more shouting. The scene that Hugo witnessed was several men holding down a small figure that was doing a pretty good job of resisting their attempts to restrain her. One man not taking part in the act was busy cursing as he nursed his shin, blood flowing from a wound.

- 'Bitch nearly took my leg off!'

He complained another of the men turned to him with a scowl.

- 'Stop your bitchin' and give us a hand.'

The chastised man stood up and limped over as he had been told though he continued his complaining.

- 'You think it's worth it? Who knows how long it would take to break her for the market?'

- 'I'll break her.'

Came the reply as the man turned to his comrade and paused as he looked at his leg more closely.

- 'On second thought you better sit down and deal with that we're in no rush… OY! Shut up!'

The last part was directed at the small form that, though tied up was still hurling abuse on her captors, abuse that increased in volume when he told her to shut up. The man sighed and kicked the girl without putting much effort into it, but it was enough to silence the abuse and brought her to gasp in pain.

- 'When I said shut up I meant it.'

Came the mans words in a voice so calm that it chilled the blood. After a moments silence one of the men spoke up.

- 'Hey boss, seeing as we got some time before we gotta report back maybe we could, you know, start breaking her?'

"Boss" thought for a moment before nodding.

- 'Fair enough, prop her up on that rock.'

Two men lifted the girl and did as told as boss undid his belt and let his pants drop.

- 'Congratulations girl, you get to find out what a man is.'

- 'So will you.'

Everyone in the clearing turned to the voice and saw a grey shape leave the trees cover and approached them, sliding his sword from its scabbard as he did.

- 'I listened long enough to know you got no legal right to the girl. So you'll leave and go fuck yourselves.'

- 'Routa, kill this idiot.'

The man whose name was apparently Routa stepped forward, sliding a long bladed knife into his hand before running forward in a burst of speed that few backstabbers could match. Nobody could say for certain what happened but Hugo stepped aside and Routa seemed to stumble, took a few more steps before falling to the ground. He tried to stand up but sank to his knees. Surprised he looked down to see why and began to scream, he screamed till he died a few seconds later. His comrades stood still for a second before, as one, turning and running as fast as they could, "boss" desperately trying to pull his pants up.

Hugo wondered whether to follow but he remembered the girl that started the mess so he shook the blood of his sword and slid it into its scabbard as he crossed the distance to the tied up form. She had been fidgeting, probably trying to loosen the bonds but stopped as she heard the man approach.

- 'It's alright girl, I prefer my women to have a bit more meat on them.'

He said as he pulled his dagger free. The girl stiffened and Hugo couldn't be certain but she seemed to be angry. He shrugged the strange idea aside and cut the ropes. In a flash the girl jumped up and kicked him in the shin.

- 'Byel tvayu mach!'

He cursed in one of the phrases he picked up from the Ruthenians as he hoped around for a second and hissed as he put the leg down. Fully expecting the girl to have bolted he was surprised to see her standing nearby, albeit out of arms reach, and was glaring at him, arms crossed and cheeks puffed.

- 'Strange way to say thank you.'

Hugo commented, sliding the dagger into its scabbard. The girl "hmphed" but her glare lost some of its venom.

- 'It's not like I knew who you were, for all I know you could be worse than them.'

Hugo wasn't certain but he could swear he heard a bit more after that, something about insulting a girls figure? Pushing whatever she mumbled aside he replied.

- 'You're absolutely correct, so why are you talking to me rather than making a run for it?'

This time there was a pause and her glare completely vanished as she formed a reply.

- 'Because… well… You're strange.'

"And you're stranger." He wanted to retort. After all how often do you see a young girl running around a wooded countryside in a white outfit that showed the belly button… even the whores in Constantinople showed more modesty! Though now that Hugo thought about there were plenty of girls he wouldn't mind seeing that kind of fashion on…

- 'Hello? Old man?'

- 'I'm not old.'

He replied on reflex, silently glad for the interruption as it brought his mind to important matters, there was no disputing the fact that he was the strange no one looked anyway like any of the many nations he had seen.

- 'Hey girl, mind if I ask you some questions. Starting off, where am I?'

A logical question for a man in his position the question made the girls eyes open wide and she took a step back, her anger at his not waiting for her reply cut off by the question and she replied on reflex.

- 'Zhejiang province of course.'

- 'Zhe…'

Hugo began but stopped himself and sighed before continuing.

- 'Province of what country?'

- 'Oji-san, you're not making much sense.'

- 'I know but please answer.'

The girl looked over her shoulder, obviously regretting not running when she had a chance. Hugo expected her to actually run for it but she turned to him again and answered.

- 'China.'

Hugo felt his legs weaken underneath him and he sat down rather than risk falling. Cathay! The land of silk that lay beyond Persia … What sort of black arts sent him here?

- 'Oji-san, are you alright?'

He turned his attention to the girl who had crossed the distance between them and was looking at him, concern slowly pushing aside suspicion.

- 'Not really, no.'

The girl looked at him and seemed to be deep in thought before she nodded and sat down next to him an began rummaging in her bag, proudly producing a strange container from which she poured out a liquid and handed it to him with a smile.

The man took the offered cup and looked at its contents… a brownish liquid, pleasant to smell. With a final look at the girl he drained it in one draught. As far as he was concerned it tasted like kvas, perfect stuff for a hot day.

- 'Oji-san, you're lost aren't you?'

- 'You have no idea how badly.'

The girls smile turned into a toothy grin and she stood up, fists on her hips.

- 'I've decided!'

Turning around she thrust a finger in his direction before continuing.

- 'In reward for you're service you are now my bodyguard! You're task is to get my person to safety. Do your job well and perhaps I'll let you look for wherever you're going.'

The man couldn't help but smirk at the statement and he stood up, dusting his hands off as he did.

- 'Fair enough girl lead the way than. Names Hugo, son of Mathew. You got a name?'

- 'Hugo?'

The girl paused at the name before shrugging.

- 'Even your name is strange.'

She muttered before slamming a hand on her chest, producing a hollow thud, and loudly proclaiming.

- 'You should address me as milady, but in view of your loyal service you may address me as Lady Sonshoko.'

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The room was cold. Chojo shivered and cursed as she saw her breath turn to mist in front of her eyes. Such a drastic drop in temperature meant one thing.

- 'What do you want?'

- 'A rather unpleasant greeting, castrate.'

The voice that came in reply was smooth and cold, as if someone poured oil on ice. It seemed to come from every corner of the room and from nowhere at the same time. Chojo cursed as she stormed to the table were a lamp was and, with a small struggle, produced a flame and nearly jumped out of her skin.

Her guest sat in her favourite chair, feet on the table, hands folded, fingers intertwined. As usual not a scrap of flesh was visible beneath the long robes, deep hood and gloves. Though it was impossible to see them she knew that his eyes were digging deep into her, she knew because she could feel them, sinking in like claws.

- 'I thought one would be happy to see their best informant and advisor, they one who produces the poison you slip into the imperial court to ensure that it does as you desire.'

- 'I've had a long day warlock, if you have a point get to it.'

There was no logical explanation to what happened next, in one moment there was a burning lamp and a shape in her chair on the other side of the table, the next the lamp was out and she had nothing under her feet as the warlock gripped her by the neck and lifted her to his eye level.

- 'Politely castrate, politely lest you want me to find another servant.'

Chojo tried to form a reply but the fingers caught off any air from her lungs. Her vision swam and her grip on the warlocks arm loosed till her hands slipped away. Next she knew and she was on the floor, drawing desperate gasps of air into her lungs. The lamp was lit again and the warlock was in the chair, though not as relaxed as before.

- 'Your enemies are moving. Kashin and her lackeys have tired of playing in the dark and are ready to move into the open. You have information, now use it.'

The lamp flickered and died and the rooms temperature immediately increased. Chojo stood up and lit the lamp before looking around. Pleased at being alone she waited till her heart slowed before calling for the guards.

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- 'What is the meaning of this?'

The guards did not reply, merely continued to stand as statues, blocking the door. Kashin took a step back before several members of the imperial guard grabbed her, pulling her arms back behind her back, kicked her feet from underneath her and forced her head into the ground. More people showed up and one of the guards forced her head up. Chojo stood in front of her, flanked by several other eunuchs, a look of triumph on their faces.

- 'Imperial Commander in Chief Kashin. You have been found guilty of plotting treason against the Emperor and his court, you're punishment will be carried out immediately.'

The guard holding her head up yanked her head down and pulled, exposing her neck. Her struggles earning her nothing in the iron grips of her captors she stopped when she heard the faint rasp of steel leaving a wooden scabbard.

- 'Damn you all! I'll see you all in hell before this years out!'

She managed to throw a curse before the sword came down and her head hit the paving stones, the body following only after the guards let go of it.

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Everywhere in the Capital similar scenes were played out, only the Empress was left unhurt, though her servants were marched out of her palace and replaced with new faces, ones possessing ears catching every hint of dissent and tongues quick to report them.

It is in the Imperial Barracks that problems arose. When the resting guardsmen were confronted by some of their own demanding they hand over their weapons fighting broke out. Reinforcements were called in and the fighting spread to other sectors of the Capital. In the confusion several men broke out and made their way to through Luoyang and to Kashins army camping outside its walls.

Bloodied and battered they had some problems in getting through to the armies commander, but sentries were sent to inform the person and were quickly back at the camps limits ordering the guardsmen through. Before long they were in the presence Enshou, who was not amused at all at having her beauty maintenance time interrupted and greeted the guardsmen in nothing but a towel, fully intent on returning to her activities afterwards.

- 'Well man, what does that peasant Kashin want that is so urgent it requires me to interrupt my bath?'

She paused, sniffed the air and took a closer look at the man.

- 'Your bath as well it seems.'

She added as an afterthought. Whether the guard had any questions regarding the person that was in charge of the field army he did not voice them.

- 'Kashin is dead, the eunuchs attacked us.'

- 'Figures. I'm not…'

Enshou paused and sat upright, seeming to pay attention for the first time.

- 'Give me the details.'

She ordered, her confirmations as to why Kashin had needed two thousand men in the vicinity of the capital confirmed.

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- 'Is everyone gathered?'

- 'Apart from the sentries, everyone.'

Enshou nodded as she allowed her retainers to fit on the last elements of her armour.

- 'Than let us try to save the situation.'

She muttered as she left the tent. Nearly two thousand men stood in the camps parade ground, the air thick with muttered conversations as they wondered amongst themselves to the reason, gossip and rumours spreading fast. The noise slowly died out as Enshou entered the platform as nearly two thousand men turned their attention to their officer.

- 'Soldiers! Madness has entered the Capital!'

There was no noise now, many were the vices of Enshou but amongst her few virtues was the ability to catch a crowd's attention. The noble began pacing on the platform as she gave the speech she had prepared.

- 'Imperial Commander in Chief Kashin, who led us to victory over the Yellow Turbans has been thanked by being murdered!'

Though she hated praising others the words had the desired effect as an angry murmur rose from the ranks. Raising both hands for silence Enshou continued.

- 'The Eunochs, having murdered the Commander, than turned on the emperor!'

There was no angry murmur now, but a roar as the men reacted to the sacrilege. Though Enshou did not know what the Eunuchs were doing she did know that most of the countries population thought the Emperor was something divine, and there would be only anger at the thought of anyone moving against him.

- 'These castrated madmen have murdered a hero and turned the emperor into a prisoner! Now they have declared all of us criminals!'

There was a roar, heard in every home within Luoyang. Enshou raised her hands, silencing the soldiers as she continued.

- 'What shall we do? Do we allow ourselves to be turned into traitors, while madmen ravage the capital?'

Another roar as the soldiers shouted their disapproval, Enshous' own voice rose into a roar as she shouted the alternative.

- 'Or do we march to the capital and drive those maniacs into the river Yi?'

There was no way to over shout the roar of approval that followed those words and discipline was hard to reintroduce, as two thousand soldiers were more than willing to do just that.

For the first time nearly two centuries an army marched on the Capital.


	2. Chapter 2

Luoyang was burning. Two thousand soldiers from the, recently, deceased commander in chief of the Imperial army Kashins army under command from her second in command Enshou had taken the city by storm and were now venting their frustration. Stores and homes were looted; those amongst the population that resisted were murdered. As such most the residents were fleeing the onslaught, blocking the streets, trampling the weak underfoot in their panic and making any action by the Imperial Guard loyal to the eunuchs impossible.

Chojo looked at the burning city and wept, the day had started so well too. Kashin was disposed of, the emperor was firmly in her grip and all of China was hers to govern, how was she to foresee such barbarism? Who would have thought that making an example of those moving against the Imperial Court would only spur their vassals on?

A commotion nearby made her look down to see units of guardsmen rushing to the gates and she turned looking for someone to question, the room was empty. With a walk bordering on running she crossed the room and entered the maze of corridors outside looking for her allies, there was no one. Not being able to stop a moan escaping her mouth she stumbled back into the room and called out.

'Warlock! Warlock!'

There was no answer and the eunuch moved to the balcony again. The soldiers had disappeared and in the light offered by the burning city she could see the courtyards of imperial capital completely devoid of people.

'Warlock!'

The door opened violently making Chojo turn more quickly than than she had ever moved in her life. A man in the armour of the imperial guard walked in with complete disregard for protocol.

'They are in the capital.'

There was no need to ask who and Chojo reflexively turned as if expecting to see a horde of angry soldiers swarming the courtyard. The guardsman continued to speak.

'It will be some time before they reach the palace but we will begin evacuating the emperor now, you had best look to your own safety.'

This made Chojo turn her attention back to the soldier, a look of panic growing on her face.

'What?'

The guardsman had already turned to leave and replied even as he left.

'The Imperial Guard is to ensure the emperors safety, the court must fend for itself.'

And he was gone. Outside the roar of a victorious army grew louder and Chojo stumbled to her chair. She sat there until they door was thrown open and bloodstained men barged in.

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'Could you repeat that?'

Stanbor asked. For a second he thought he heard himself being addressed as "Messenger from Heaven". The black haired girl, armed with a polearm and, as Stanbor was quick to notice, a nice rack repeated her question.

'Are you alright, Messenger of Heaven?'

Okay, so he did hear right. Stanbor nodded and let out a sigh this was simply not his day and it had started so promising. First a swift victory followed by plenty of plunder and next thing he knew a corpse attempted to murder him than he finds himself swallowed by a blinding light only to find himself in a tree when said light disappears. Following that bandits attacked him wounded him in the leg along with who knows now many bruises and just when things were beginning to look up it turns out the cute girl that helped him was mental. He should have expected it really.

'Messenger?'

'Yes I'm alright.'

The man replied, straightening up and winced as he did so, the cut on his leg had reminded him of its existence. The girl noticed and reached out to steady him.

'Stay still, I will get somebody to attend your wound.'

As if on cue several men left the forest and entered the clearing, muttered conversations started immediately as some observed the bodies and others the stranger. One of the men walked up to the girl, casting nervous glances at Stanbor as he did.

'Lady Kanu, we swept the area and caught the brigands as they fled. Do you have any other orders?'

"Lady! Orders!" The words registered with Stanbor and he looked at the girl in front of him with new interest. The girl in question turned to the newcomer and, with an authority that seemed to confirm the new knowledge, gave instructions.

'Get a medic to see to Heavens Messenger immediately. Send some men to the village and get horses ready, we're going to leave as soon as possible.'

'As ordered.'

The man stiffened and walked off, shouting instructions as he did. One of the men ran up and, with a cautious glance at Stanbor, began to dress his wound. The girl, addressed as Kanu, continued to talk, primarily enquiring about his wound and whether he wanted something to drink. Though he did, a barrel of beer sounded like a brilliant idea, he decided it could wait.

'Sorry, your ladyship, but what is this "messenger of heaven"?'

Both the soldier tending his wound and the girl looked at him with wide eyes.

'Did you not drop from the heavens?'

Stanbor was not sure about that, though he did end up in that tree somehow and he didn't have the strength to go into the entire story just now.

- 'Yes, yes I did.'

This caused a surge of conversations amongst the men, one saying something about shooting stars, and an honest smile to appear on the girls' lips that confirmed Stanbors suspicions about her being cute.

'Than you are the messenger from heaven, sent to quell the wars!'

The girl declared causing Stanbor to decide he really did need a proper drink before he tried to make any sense of what was going on.

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'I see.'

Was all the stranger said at the information laid out before him. About two dozen men, all of them still carrying the yellow scarf that denoted them to be of the recently crushed Yellow Turban movement sat around him, their weapons laid before the man who was still covered in the blood of a half dozen other brigands.

Having already suffered disastrous defeats the Yellow Turbans fled to the wild lands venturing out only when needing supplies. The man at whose mercy they now were seemed to be a promising target at first, until he killed and wounded several in the matter of moments leaving behind a trail of broken bodies with wounds that none of the men thought possible. Those that did not run fell to their knees begging for mercy, what little fight remained in them gone at this latest of setbacks. Surprising them the stranger did spare them, demanding information in return for their lives.

Surprised the bandits slowly started to tell the man everything he wanted to know and soon they began pouring out their woes, about how officials had taxed them to starvation, how they had to flee to the mountains to escape punishment for not being able to pay and how in desperation they took up arms and preyed on those weaker than themselves. They also told him about how they had joined the Yellow Turbans, the religion that promised a new world, one in which poor men would not have to suffer at the hands of the corrupt and how their dream of a new world was crushed by the armies of the regional lords.

Zhyv, second of three sons and two daughters sired by a knight in feudal Europe took all what he was told in silence as he thought. The man did not know why whatever witchcraft that was contained in the mirror had sent him to Cathay, nor did he know how to get back bar the long overland route known as the Silk Road that would take him through the Steppes to Persia and the land of the Muzelmen until finally reaching Constantinople, capitol city of the pseudo-Romans in all its rotting glory.

Not a very promising choice as very rarely did anyone make the entire road, most being merchants who would sell their goods as quickly as possible to merchants coming the opposite way. So Zhyv listened and plans formed in his mind.

The brigands fell silent as the man stood up and walked a short distance away. Zhyv looked into the valley formed by the river Wei and the closest settlement. Before the brigands could decide whether they should remain seated or use the chance to run the man turned around and the brigands froze.

Zhyv looked at the seated men in slow succession, each one averting their eyes after a moment before he decided what to do.

'Tell me.'

He spoke, the sudden noise making the brigands stiffen in reflexive unease as their eyes rested on him again.

'Do you still want to change your lives for the better?'

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

'Hey mom! Look at that guy!'

The mother immediately hushed the child and rushed it away. Though crowded the streets suddenly became bare as townsfolk and merchants gave way to the source of the commotion.

Hugo drew stares for many reasons, his sheer size and outlandish appearance being foremost amongst them, his eyes scanning the area as he instinctively looked for potential threats. Two men who ended up on the receiving end of one of his glares quickly backed off, hands raised to signify they meant no ill.

Sonshoko walked beside him and, though not noticed as quickly as her co traveller she also drew a fair share of stares. Unlike Hugo who frowned at the attention he was receiving the girl seemed to bask in it as she marched briskly, humming a tune as she did.

'First off.'

She began, causing the man to look down towards her.

'We should get something to eat. Than we get a bath and after that some sleep! Or maybe we should start with a bath and than have a meal?'

As Sonshoko thought out loud Hugo considered the matter as he found both options appealing. The last meal he had had was the night before the battle while the last bath was, excluding the odd splash when water was more available, in Antioch before the campaign started. However a matter did occur to him, a matter he voiced out loud.

'What sort of monies do you have?'

Sonshoko turned, surprise on her face.

'None. A princess doesn't carry money.'

Hugo stopped walking, his jaw dropping. Not at the statement about being a princess, he had already heard and dismissed it as a fantasy, but at the admission to not having any money.

'You serious?'

Sonshoko stopped and looked at the man,

'Of course. Who would joke about being a princess? You can lose your head for that you know.'

Hugo did know that but refused to be sidetracked.

'About the money!'

He growled, causing the locals even more keen to get out of his way. As the girl confirmed Hugo sighed and pressed his fingers against the iron bar that covered his nose as it made it impossible for him to press them against his nose, and shut his eyes in frustration.

The girl did not seem to care much about his annoyance and continued with a comment about how they should find something to eat as Hugo pulled out his purse and checked its contents, several Greek coins, plenty of Muzelmen ones as well as some of the odd ones he had liberated from the first man in china he had killed. With a sigh he followed the girl.

'How far till we reach your kin?'

He asked. Sonshoko did not reply immediately, long enough for the man to wonder whether he should repeat himself before she replied.

'It took me four days to get this far.'

Not very accurate but it gave the man a general idea. He frowned and continued.

'In that case we have to be economical.'

'Economical?'

'Cheap.'

Hugo clarified the matter and Sonshoko looked down. She bit her lip before looking up again.

'Cheap?'

She asked for confirmation.

'Cheap.'

He confirmed. The girl looked down again for a moment as she thought over the matter, looked around and smiled as she found a solution.

'Cheap it is!'

She declared and dragged Hugo towards a booth.

'Onee-san! Two bowls of Ramen!'

'Coming up!'

The woman behind the counter started before her voice trailed off as her eyes fixed on the grey shape moving into her booth.

'Could you hurry please? We're hungry.'

Hugo said causing the woman to shut her mouth (which had managed to drop open) and with a silent "Yes" she got to work, casting an occasional glance at the man as he sat down and removed his helmet and coif.

A small crowd had gathered near the booth though they kept a cautious distance, a hubbub of silent conversations slowly filling the air as they discussed the uncommon sight before them. Hugo did his best not to pay heed to the unwanted attention and instead observed as the woman placed strings of dough resembling kluski into boiling water before turning her attention to the broth. Hugo couldn't help but nod as the ingredients tumbled into two bowls before being covered in broth and placed in front of the unusual duo. Hugo graced the woman with a smile and she found herself unable to resist smiling back.

It was here that Hugo encountered a problem, as even though he had received food he had not received a spoon. Before he could complain he glanced at Sonshoko who happily slurping noodles up with the assistance of two sticks. Now he noticed the containers holding a number of such sticks set on the booth. Sliding a pair out he separated them and, casting another look at the girl he set his fingers in a manner mimicking hers and attempted to eat, the noodles promptly sliding from his grip.

'Ojisan.'

Turning his attention back to Sonshoko the girl had put her chopsticks down and reached over, gripping his fingers with strength that surprised the man. She realigned his fingers before picking her chopsticks up again and pulled a wad of noodles from the bowl.

'You do it like this.'

She informed him before slurping the noodles down. Unsteadily Hugo followed her example and succeeded in bringing noodles to his mouth, though he had to lower his mouth to catch them before they slipped from his grip.

Gradually he succeeded in getting the food into his stomach with the awkward utensil and was down to, again mimicking Sonshoko, drinking the soup from the bowl when he noticed the change. The street behind him had fallen silent and the booths owner, up to now chatting with Sonshoko fell silent and backed away. Turning around the man saw why. Several armed men were standing behind him, two of them he recognized as some of the people who had gotten out of his way in the town, the others also seemed familiar.

'So it is you.'

One of the men said, nodding his head as he confirmed the report, he turned his head to Sonshoko as he continued.

'The bitch too? Kind of you to come all the way from the hills to pay us for the wrong you did.'

Hugo spent this time looking around, taking into account where the men stood, how far away their hands were from their weapons and began weighing his options. Sonshoko, seemingly unconcerned about the armed men standing over her, greeted the men with a smile that nobody could call friendly.

'My, if it isn't Mr. Coward! I had trouble recognizing you with your pants up and not running away.'

The man showed no sign of irritation other than his voice coming out strained through gritted teeth.

'Get your asses up! We're going for a walk.'

Even as the men moved to grab Hugo he moved into action. His fist lashed out connecting with the groin of one of the men who immediately doubled over, his mouth opening in a voiceless scream. Even as he did so Hugo's other hand moved up as he sprang from the bench, pushing the man into his allies.

Surprised by the attack the others hesitated, in that moment Sonshoko disappeared from her chair and one of the men stumbled back, gurgling as blood escaped from the new hole in his throat. The hesitation passed, anger settled in and weapons were readied as the men took a step back to make ready, Hugo was faster.

The sword left its fleece-lined scabbard with barely a sound and immediately afterwards three men fell, one falling where he stood, kicked the road a few times before dying, the second fell forward, hit the counter and slowly, like a man drowning, slid to the ground. The third fell back, sat up and looked at the stumps that his arms now ended in. He was silent for a moment before taking a deep breath and screaming, he screamed until he bled to death a few seconds later.

Four men dead in less time than it took to tell the townsfolk scattered, and the thugs wanted to follow but Hugo was not merciful and another thug died, his skull split open by an overhand strike. A fifth fell with a cry as Sonshoko slit his thigh before correcting with a blow to the neck. The remainder managed to run and neither of the two pursued. Hugo calmly wiped his weapon clean with the shirt of one of the fallen before sliding it back to the scabbard. He turned to find Sonshoko looking at with an intense stare, 'Great' he thought, 'now my only ally is scared of me.'

He raised his hands and was ready to attempt to calm the girl down but was saved the trouble.

'That was awesome!'

'Eh?'

Was the most intelligent thing Hugo could come up with in response to the girls' words. Eyes wide he could only watch as Sonshoko, no better word for it, bounced around as he she admired his handiwork and his weapon in turn.

'Three dead in a second! Bones cut right through as if they were nothing! Ojisan you're super strong! I haven't even seen Kannei do something like that!'

She paused long enough to take a breath, looking at Hugo with, he would later swear that he wasn't lying, stars in her eyes.

'I've decided! I'm keeping you as a bodyguard! Just wait, I'll talk to my sister and she'll definitely agree that having someone like you around is a good idea!'

'Fine, fine.'

Hugo replied, not really listening as he pulled his coif up before sliding his helmet back into place. Double-checking his sword was at his side he knelt and removed the purses of the men killed before tossing coins he deemed sufficient for the meal on the booth.

'We have to leave before the city watch show up.'

'Pfff. I'm a princess of the Son family! The watch can't touch me!'

'What sort of evidence do you have about your position?'

Hugo retorted. Sonshoko pause, her smile being replaced by a thoughtful expression before grabbing Hugo by the arm and hurriedly dragging him down the street.

'We better leave before the watch arrives!'

Hugo could only sigh.

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A building collapsed, sending burning wood tumbling into the street making the horse skid to a stop and sit on its hind. Men shouted and cursed at the newest obstacle. Orders were given and the men forced their horses to turn around. Two of the horsemen, riding in the middle bore packs containing the reason of their ride through the burning city; they carried the child emperor and his brother to safety.

Two thousand soldiers had stormed the city, putting everyone they encountered to the sword in their rage at the execution of their commander and the threat of the same fate awaiting them and soon it became obvious that for all its pride the imperial guard were no match for veterans. The fall of the capital certain they put into action an emergency plan and attempted to smuggle the imperial siblings to safety, it was not going well.

Even without the difficulty of evading enemy soldiers the burning city was obstacle enough with collapsing buildings making streets impassable. The guardsmen found what seemed like a clear street only having to turn back as a group of soldiers appeared dragging a guardsmen from his saddle, his screams cut mercifully short as he was cut to pieces in a frenzy of violence.

Emperor Shao, whose birth name was Liu Bian, looked up from the security of the Imperial Guardsmen's arms as they rode. The guardsmen noticed and looked down.

'Don't worry. We're nearly out of the city.'

As if mocking the man the group was forced to a halt, the road ahead was blocked. Nearly a dozen armed blocked it, the moment they noticed the guardsmen they stopped their looting and began moving. The riders attempted to turn back but a building chose that moment to collapse. Their escape route cut off the officer made the only decision he could.

'Charge!'

The guardsmen readied their weapons and did so. The soldiers of Ensho scattered, some not quickly enough and they screamed as they fell under the blows, however they pressed in immediately afterwards, slashing at the horses and their riders as they passed.

One guardsman clutched his leg and fell from the saddle with a crash of armour and two horses squealed in agony as their slashed tendons could no longer hold their weight and they fell, their riders tumbling from the saddle.

Liu Bian cried out as he fell, the guardsmen responsible for him twisting in the saddle in an attempt to shield him. Despite the mans efforts the boy emperor was still winded as he hit the street. The Ensho soldiers were on them in a moment, a spear pinning the guardsmen to the ground even as he tried to free his leg from underneath the horse. The boy managed to stand and run, barely avoiding a spear thrust that would have ended his life when the guardsmen counter attacked. What followed was a flurry of violence, broken by screams of pain and a red rain before it ended seconds later. The Ensho soldiers had fled, leaving a number of their comrade's dead or dying and another three guardsmen joined the ranks of the dead.

Liu Bian was unceremoniously picked up and shoved into the saddle, a guardsmen mounting immediately behind him and the group moved in a nightmarish journey through flames, smoke and waves of heat. Screams echoing from all sides, buildings collapsing as the flames at away at their foundations, the smoke tearing into the eyes, making them water in a vain attempt to make it possible to see ahead. Time passed, blood was spilled, curses hurled and men could swear that there was nothing in the world but fire smoke and blood when darkness descended followed by light.

The emperor looked around and released a breath he was not aware he had been holding, for they were outside the city.

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In the early hours of morning the clatter of hooves sounded loud and clear as the horsemen rode through Xu. Covered in dust from the road they had ridden several horses to near death, exchanging them at control stations planted along the roads to annoyed officials who grudgingly gave up expensive animals for ones they couldn't be sure would survive the harsh treatment, they had no choice in the matter for a messenger on the business of a regional lord had privileges.

The messenger and his bodyguards skidded to a halt as they found their way barred by the gates of the citadel and they had to wait till a sleepy sentry showed up to ask their business. Having heard it the now fully awake sentry ran in to get an officer who showed up, listened to what the messenger had to say before rushing back to his station issuing orders as he did. A runner was sent to alert the lord of the messengers arrival and the heavy gates swung open enough to admit the riders who rode past to deliver the news. They were greeted at the base of the stairs leading to the palace by one of the highest officials there.

'What's the news?'

Kakoen greeted the messenger with scowl at the early morning interruption. The man slid from the saddle and lifted a rolled scroll made of strips of wood to the silver haired woman. The visible eye showed no irritation as she took it and glanced at the words within. The eyes opened wide and she turned her gaze back to the messenger.

'Is this certain?'

'I saw it with my own eyes.'

The man replied, still kneeling, head down. Kakoen took another look at the scroll before turning around and marching up the steps with as much speed as her dignity as a noble allowed.

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'My fingers are sticky, Keifa, deal with it.'

'Yes, Karin sama.'

Soso's strategist knelt and proceeded to lick her lords fingers clean. Soso seemed to pay no mind to the fact, devoting all her attention to a scroll until she slid the fingers out of her subordinates' mouth and clicked her tongue.

'Now they're wet, Keifa, stand up.'

Doing as told Juniku smiled blissfully as Soso wiped the fingers dry on her chest. The sound of a door opening made both of them look up over the table lined with the remnants of breakfast as Kakoen walked in. Seeing the scroll in hand Soso sighed.

'Put it with the rest.'

She said dismissively. Kakoen walked up and extended the scroll directly to her cousin.

'You should read it now.'

'What is it?'

The lord asked, even as she took the scroll.

'Kashins army has sacked Luoyang.'

There was no more teasing that morning.

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The village elder's house was surrounded. Virtually every villager had gathered and were straining to see inside past the line of soldiers who where not very keen on their job as they themselves were attempting to see what was going on inside.

Stanbor sat at a table clutching a cup containing a liquid that, he had been told, contained tea, a farcry from the beer he was hoping for though in all honesty he had little stomach to drink anything.

'So to summarize, I'm in Cathay, the western provinces to be exact, which is currently plagued by bandits and brigands and I am a messenger from heaven who is meant to pacify them.'

'Exactly.'

Kanu confirmed with a smile. Stanbor nodded twice, took a draught of tea, winced as he registered the taste and leaned back.

'Sorry, but I'm not him.'

If there was ever a need for a visual aid for shock than Kanu's face at that moment was perfect. Eyes wide, mouth-hanging open she closed it only to open it again as all she had envisioned crumbled.

'But you said you fell from the sky!'

She finally managed to say. Stanbor sighed as he replied.

'I was near Antioch, fighting the Muzelmen when I was blinded by a light and next thing I know I'm in a tree a dozen meters above the ground and as soon as I landed some bastards try to gut me.'

The man spread his hands in an apologetic gesture.

'So I'm afraid I'm no messenger, much less from heaven.'

Kanu felt her heart sink, not a messenger of heaven. So there was no divine mandate declaring the end of wars in china. She would have to struggle on, with her own strength. Not that she would stop, that thought never came to her but she had began to hope…. 'Stupid girl!' she chastised herself, 'Not an immortal from heaven, just a man from Anti….'

She paused and looked up to meet grey eyes set in a face that she could only describe as foreign and before she even thought it she had asked the question.

'Antioch? Muzelmen?' What do these words mean?'

Stanbor raised an eyebrow, surprised by the girls sudden question.

'Errr, Antioch is a major city near the Mediterranean. The Byzantines recently liberated from the muzelmen who are constantly trying to re-conquer it, plenty of work there for free lances like me.'

He paused before continuing.

'Do you really now nothing of the muzelmen? They're the devils horde! They desecrate sacred places and those they don't kill they drag off to slavery!'

Stanbors enthusiastic explanation trailed off as he noticed he was not having any effect on the girl leaving him feeling under whelmed, after all knowing that one was magically transferred to a country one had never been in did not mean one knew that he had also been hurled nearly eight hundred years in the past and nearly four hundred years before anyone knew of Mohammedanism.

Kanu listened in silence, the explanation not explaining anything to her as it only increased the amount of words that she did not know but she understood enough. Her thoughts were interrupted as she realized the man had asked a question.

'What's the deal with this messenger anyway? Would you mind explaining?'

Kanu sighed as she straightened herself on the stool.

'This land has faced nearly five decades of chaos, leading to widespread suffering, its only natural that people start dreaming of some magical force intervening to stop such a situation.'

'Me included' she sighed inwardly before continuing out loud.

'Stupid, isn't it.'

Stanbor did not reply, instead he fixed his gaze on Kanu, who was looking at her hands, clenched under the table. The knight than looked out to the villagers who were trying to overhear what was being discussed inside. The man frowned before nodding.

'Lady Kanu. I take it you are trying to maintain some sort of order in this chaos?'

Kanu did not reply, but she did look up at the man as he continued.

'I don't have much to do with heaven but I am skilled, and I can offer my services towards that goal. As much as I am able anyway.'

The black haired bandit hunter looked up, an expression of uncertainty on her face but even as she opened her mouth to express her thoughts both she and the man jumped from their seats as the door opened violently.

Stanbor could not say for certain what had happened bar that something resembling quicksilver moved around the room issuing a constant stream of words.

'Aisha! I heard! I heard you found the messenger guy! Is this him? It is him isn't it? Hey onichan! You the messenger from heaven that gramps was talking about? Wha! How did you get this shirt? It's made of metal, right? Awesome!'

Hand on sword Stanbor found himself looking at the figure of a redhead who did not even reach up to his chest and was staring at him with wide eyes that, he would later swear, did not contain a trace of ill-will in them. Kanu extended her hand in what she hoped would be a calming gesture as she said,

'Rinrin! Don't barge in and assault people with questions like that! If you calm down I'll tell you….'

She got no further as the next words made her slump into silence.

'Messenger from Heaven? Well… I guess you could call me that.'

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

'Boss, I really don't see a reason why we should bother chasing them.'

A half dozen men sat in the room and most nodded in mute agreement with the mans words. The man addressed as boss sat at the collections head, hands folded as he listened betraying no sign of what he thought. The speaker looked around as the bosses silence made him uncertain how to proceed. Not finding any help in the others he continued.

'They killed half a dozen of our men, there's no telling how many more would die before we got them and by than we'll be too weak to hold onto the city.'

'As you said, they killed a half dozen of our boys.'

Boss finally spoke as he straightened in his seat; his sudden words making everyone fall silent, most still jumped in their seats when he slammed his hand in the table.

'And most of them in the city! In front of everyone! How do you expect us to maintain control if people see someone disrespect us and get away with it!'

There were no objections as all the men sat and avoided looking the boss in the eyes. The man leaned back in his chair.

'Get the boys, hire additional thugs and than track them down. Track them down and murder them before dragging them back here so we can show everyone what happens to those who disrespect us!'

The men muttered an agreement before leaving the room. Boss did not stand, merely leaned forward and let go of a breath he was not aware he had been holding, it came out as a white mist.

'Excellent work.'

Came a voice like oil on ice, boss did not turn around as he replied.

'Thank you. You will remember to keep your side of the bargain?'

'Of course. Kill the Messenger and your hold on this cities underworld will be secure.'

The voices owner walked into view, heavy robes leaving no flesh uncovered and not for the first time boss found himself unable to prevent a shiver as the robbed arm slid across the table, nearly touching his hand. When the cloth finally slid off it uncovered a timekeeper, sand flowing.

'Just remember, there is a time limit.'

The robbed shape moved to the shadows and the next breath the boss released was mercifully devoid of mist.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

'Close up! You're leaving gaps. Don't.'

Zhyv said as he paced around the group of brigands. Obediently the men shuffled closer, closing the gaps between the rough shields they were carrying, the first among many changes the knight had introduced.

They were in a valley, hidden amongst forests and marshes on a dry island where these survivors of the Yellow Turban movement had taken refuge. Zhyv turned from the men and their attempts to follow his instructions and form a shieldwall and looked to the camp. Woman and children moved about, fulfilling tasks to ensure the groups survival, food was gathered and conserved, makeshift shelters made sturdier and the wounded and sick cared for. Desperate people clinging to life, how many such had he, in his time, killed? The man frowned at the thought, his fingers absent mindedly moving through his rosary beads. He moved to turn and paused, one of the children was looking at him. Seeing his attention she took a step back before waving with a shy smile.

Zhyv did not reply, until he saw the girl pause, uncertainty replacing the smile and the knight lifted his hand in an awkward salute. The action caused the girl to smile widely as she ran off to another group and soon they were busy with an avid discussion.

Sighing the man turned around to see a sturdy looking shieldwall, sturdy until he ran into it, pushing men over and breaking the formation.

'Dig in your feet! Brace for impact! Do it again only properly!'

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The smoke from Luoyangs' funeral pyre could still be seen in the distance as the guardsmen halted, one of their number simply sliding from the saddle, his thigh black with blood still oozing from the wound. Two others picked up the corpse and moved it to avoid offending the imperial siblings they had managed to evacuate from the capital as it burned around them.

Liu Bian and his brother Liu Xie sat in silence and merely observed as the guardsmen unbridled the horses and led them to the water for a drink. One of them pulled out a belt of cloth that he unravelled in front of the princes revealing food. With a bow the man left the two. Xie reached out and began to eat as Bian merely sat in silence, as if he had not seen the food. Xie glanced at his brother before prodding him.

'Bian! Food.'

The elder sibling sighed and picked some up but did not begin to eat, merely looking at it. Xie shrugged and continued to eat.

'What happens now?'

Bian suddenly asked, not looking up from the food. Xie lifted his head, but did not reply, as if expecting his brother to continue. When he saw he would not he shrugged as he swallowed.

'The guardsmen will escort us to safety, we punish those who are responsible and everything goes back to normal.'

Bian did not reply nor show any sign of having heard and Xie thought about prodding him when the emperor nodded and began to eat.

Some time passed and the guardsmen prepared to move when a sentry called out.

'Riders!'

In a moment the guardsmen, swords out, surrounded the imperial siblings as the horsemen approached. They slowed and moved to surround the group before reining their mounts in.

'Identify yourselves!'

One of the riders demanded.

'You identify yourselves!'

The guard's officer replied. The riders stiffened in their saddles and hands went to their weapons.

'Answer dog son or I'll ask with the bow.'

'Guardsmen on the emperors business.'

There was no immediate reply as the riders officer leaned in the saddle as he regarded the men in front of him before he nodded and gave his reply.

'The guard of the Governess of Dong, Totaku.'

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Two hundred riders stood next to their mounts, ready for the order to move. The one who would give the order moved to her own mount all the while discussing matters with her two companions. Compared to her cousins Soso was not the most impressive of figures but the authority she held herself with was such that few would notice the fact.

'Shunran will accompany me to Louyang, we'll see what we can make of the situation. Shuran, you will stay here and organize a force before joining us.'

Kakoen shook her head even as her cousin finished.

'You're too hasty. You should first organize a larger force before heading there. I doubt things will be too peaceful.'

'My bodyguard is sufficient to deal with any threats. Besides I have Shunran and Kii with me, any attacker would suffer more than we.'

Kakoen sighed but did not press the matter, merely nodded. Soso stopped and turned to face her.

'However I would feel better were you to assemble a more substantial force and marched south to reinforce us.'

Kakoen bowed and Soso continued to her mount. Kakoton held back and shared a brief hug with her sister.

'Take care sis.'

'And you.'

With that she also left. Kakoen sighed again before moving to get to her own work. Teni, observing matters up to that point in silence joined her and the two walked towards the citadel in silence until Teni spoke.

'Shall we try to get Nagi and her lot back here? That would save us time.'

Kakoen considered the matter before shaking her head.

'They have their job to do. We have to organize another force.'

Teni did not reply immediately, casting a look towards another, smaller, group of horsemen readying their mounts before sighing.

'We're already holding a lot of men under arms to deal with the Turbans and now we might need to deal with other governors. We're living in interesting times, aren't we Shuran?'

'That we are Ruru, that we are.'

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

If there ever was a time Ryubi thought fondly of campaigning it was now. The girl could not suppress a groan as she saw the amount of scrolls waiting to be read, each one containing a problem needing resolving. That was two hours ago and with the pile was no lesser and the girl groaned again as her head slammed against the desk.

Sitting upright she rubbed her forehead with a moan. The thought of getting out of the room was oh so tempting but the thought of an angry Kanu stopped her, until she remembered that the black haired monster was not present. Cheered up considerably Ryubi got up for a break, promising herself she would get back to work before her sister returned.

Outside her mood immediately improved and she stood for a moment in silence, lapping up the sun before walking along with no destination in mind. Before long she found herself drawn by the noise of fighting and found herself overlooking the training ground. Bacho and Batai were engaged in what the cousins called training, though the governor of Shoku had seen fights to the death that were less violent.

'One day that girl is going to be a dangerous one to face.'

Ryubi turned to see Choun standing next to her having appeared, as was her habit, out of nowhere. Ryubi let out a giggle.

'I'm already unwilling to fight her, and here you are saying she'll be even better? Sei, you're making me fear for Chinas future.'

Choun nodded.

'Of course she'll be better, she's got that monster.' She paused indicating Bacho. 'Teaching her. To say nothing of the fact that on occasion I or Aisha will lend a hand in her schooling.'

As they watched the two they were discussing had broken off and faced each other at the ready. The tension was almost visible and the spectators fell silent as they waited to see the move that would come next.

Batai suddenly shifted her weight, sliding her left leg back, bringing the staff round one handed as she extended the other.

'Is that a Golden eagle?'

Ryubi looked back as Choun slapped her hand into her face. Bacho likewise turned around with a "Where?" the opening immediately used by her cousin who leapt forward. The next anyone knew and she was on the ground, clutching her head, Bacho resting her staff on her shoulders.

'Next time you try such a stupid bluff I'll break a bone or two. Any martial artist worth her salt will see through something like that.'

'I must have missed the eagle.' Ryubi turned around with a sigh. 'Eh? The fights over? What'd I miss?'

Choun sighed. Bacho looked up and, having noticed them, waved.

'Toka! Sei! What's up.'

'Nothing really.' Choun replied as she walked up. – 'We were merely observing your duel.'

'You were both impressive.'

Ryubi added making Batai, who had finally got over the pain laugh bashfully as she rubbed the back of her head.

'Tanpopo, bunny hops around the training ground.'

Batai's protests were cut short as Bacho repeated the order with a growl and soon the girl was some distance away.

'I don't want to intrude on your training but do you have to be so harsh on her?'

'It builds character.' – Bacho waved her hand dismissively. - 'Besides, it's the only way of dealing with someone so stubborn.'

'A family trait I see.'

Both Ryubi and Bacho pretended not to notice Chouns comment though a scowl appeared on Bacho's face as she added.

'Besides with only us two left of the Ba family the fighting style has to survive. The best insult to Soso I can think of short of making her beg for death.'

This time Choun did not make any comment and an uncomfortable silence fell amongst the three, with Bacho quickly realizing the cause.

'Ah! Sorry. I didn't mean to… well.'

She stuttered before trailing off. Ryubi cut off the girl's attempts to explain by squeezing her shoulder.

'We know.'

Choun squeezed the other shoulder and offered a faint smile in apology. Anything anyone would say was cut short by a commotion making all three turn to the source.

'Hawawa! This is big, this is big!'

Shokatsuryo came into view waving her arms and a look of panic on her face.

'Whats big Shuri?'

The strategist came to a halt and began to explain, with a lot of arm swinging while at it.

'Aisha! Rinrin! Big news! Messenger! Man! Big!

'Shuri! Deep breaths.'

Doing as told Shokatsuryo calmed down and started from the beginning.

'Aisha and Rinrin are back!'

At this Ryubi looked up wondering whether she could make it back to the paperwork waiting in the room before Kanu got there but the next words made her forget about the matter entirely.

'They brought a man with them! They say he's the messenger of heaven!'

The three girls exchanged a glance before rushing off to the citadel, closely followed by Shokatsuryo. A few moments later Batai showed up and stood up with a sigh as her legs pulsed from the effort of hopping around the training ground. Realizing she was alone she couldn't stop the question escaping her mouth.

'Where'd everybody go?'

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The setting sun bathed the world in a crazed display of red light and black shadows. Hugo frowned, barely registering the sun as he went over the days events and the knowledge he had gained since his arrival. If anyone had told him he would have ended up thrown to the other side of the world he would have kicked them to the ground telling them to think up a more believable, and pleasant, fortune, such as him marrying a rich heiress!

That matter brought up he turned to look at his travelling companion and source of information. Having presented herself as Sonshoko she also claimed to be a member of a leading family. Originally the man dismissed it as fiction though the fact that she effortlessly presented him with both geographical and political knowledge convinced him to accept that she was either very good at bluffing or her claim had legitimacy.

The girl, having noticed his attention had shifted to her, used the fact to ask.

'So, you know everything you need?'

'Almost.' – Hugo replied. – 'But it can wait.'

The girl nodded.

'Good. Now you answer my questions. First off… why the hell are we camping in the woods and not an inn!'

Hugo sighed, and massaged his temple as he replied.

'Because of certain commotion involving several corpses in the middle of a street led to even more attention than we already gathered. Being a foreigner I'd rather not have to deal with the problems involved.'

'Fine.'

She sighed with a tone suggesting she did not find it so but didn't feel like pressing the matter. The silence did not last long before she voiced a second question.

'What about your shirt? Is it common where you come from?'

'My shirt?' – Hugo looked at the sleeves sticking from below the end of his mail belonging to the shirt made from strips of leather and cloth. – 'Pretty much.'

'No. The metal shirt.'

Sonshoko corrected, noticing where the mans eyes were when he replied. Hugo wondered a moment what she meant when he realized.

'The hauberk? It's not a shirt, its armour. Wait, does this mean you haven't seen mail before?'

Sonshoko's blank expression was all the reply the man needed. The girl rolled the new words on her tongue before shaking her head.

'You use a lot of strange words, you know?'

'So do you.'

Both fell silent for a while as they mused over their peculiar situation before both issued a sigh.

'Lets find a better place for the night.'

'Agreed.'

The two continued their march, the sun continued to set, the red light offered gradually turning gray till it became blue, the blotches of shadow becoming larger and darker.

Sonshoko noticed a second before Hugo did who barely managed to pull the shield from his back in time to stop several arrows that whistled into the leather covered wood. In that time several shapes left cover.

The shields boss connected with the face of the first freeing blood and teeth in liberal dosage. Even as the victim fell back the sword left its fleece lined scabbard and came in a wide arc, smashing underneath the second attackers up stretched arm, shattering ribs, cutting the artery and painting the area red. A third attempted to use the opening only to have his skull cave inwards under the impact of a chakram Sonshoko had freed from her pouch and thrown in one smooth movement.

The sudden and violent demise of three of their number made the rest of the attackers halt giving Hugo and Sonshoko enough time to pull into the cover of the trees. There a vicious dance followed, the attackers attempting to surround their quarry and the duo killing them as they came, using cover to avoid detection until it was too late for their enemy to react.

As all fights it lasted till someone made a mistake, and Sonshoko can be forgiven for not making sure that her enemy was incapacitated before moving on, his hand grabbing her by the neck catching her off guard, she corrected the mistake with a slash to the mans stomach but her surprised cry had drawn Hugo's attention, his lapse used by archers, several arrows hissed round him, one striking him in the helmet. The steel held, the shaft breaking on impact but it dazed the knight, his balance faltered and he stretched out his hand to regain it only for a half dozen men to slam into him.

A sword hit his shoulder and slid of mail, another attempted to stab him in the back only to have the armour thwart the attempt. Another grabbed his arm and held fast making retaliation impossible with that hand. Sliding his feet Hugo shifted his weight and brought his shield around, the iron rim slamming into a brigands stomach, knocking the air out of him. A second brigand fell back with a cry, a chakram in his neck. Hesitation entered the hearts of the others and their grip slackened enough for Hugo free his sword arm and soon the remainder were down, screaming as their life left them.

It was time to leave and Hugo shifted his stance to do so when his legs gave way and he found himself kneeling. Curios he looked down and saw the broken shaft of an arrow in his thigh, the area stained with blood. Another glance at his sword arm revealed a long gash likewise oozing blood. When had that happened? Sonshoko was in front of him saying something but for the love of anything Hugo couldn't understand what it was.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

'Stand up! Hugo! Come on! If you don't…'

Sonshoko stopped and looked back, the area was filled with armed men. Though outnumbering their enemies and one of them heavily wounded they were reluctant to advance.

'Archers up!'

Came the order.

::::::::::::::::::::::

The last of the sand fell from the top orb to the lower; the magician observing the fact did not move immediately. Slowly he leaned forward and picked up the timepiece and it vanished within his robes. Slowly he stood and entered the shadows in the edges of the room, soon there was nothing left to betray the sorcerer was ever in the room save the still form of the boss lying on the desk, eyes and mouth open wide in mute terror.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Gakushin nodded her approval. The men offered for presentation were top quality; their gear was clean and devoid of rust and they stood smartly at attention, making no more movements than was necessary. It seemed her scolding brought effects and regional administrator had started making efforts to maintain some semblance of professionalism in the militia. With a final nod the short general turned to the woman.

'These ones pass. Now lead on to the others.'

'Of course general.'

Sent to the borders of Soso's domain to overview a province which had seen an increase in bandit activity, to offer council, criticism and, if deemed necessary, military support. Though she brought along only a hundred men, they were from Soso's guard and presented a serious force.

Behind the two came her fellow officers, Riten and Ukin. Both observing what they saw, ready to discuss the matter with the general when beyond earshot. As of yet there was nothing that could leave doubt to the administrator's competence. Riten however did see something that she decided she should voice immediately.

'Administrator. That camp outside the city, who made it?'

The group halted as all eyes settled on the engineer. The administrator thought about the matter as if trying to remember what she was asked before nodding.

'That? I took the liberty to hire a small force of mercenaries. Naturally I didn't let them in the city so they made camp outside the walls.'

'What did you mean, Mao?'

Gakushin asked her comrade to clarify what had caught her attention; Riten scratched her head as she replied.

'Didn't you notice? It's decent. As in very decent. I was hoping to find out how it was built by the one who designed it.'

Gakushin turned to the administrator who shrugged.

'You've noticed by that? Yes those mercenaries are… well they are…. You'll understand when you see them.'

Eyebrow raised the general followed the official as they left the city walls and walked to the discussed camp. Casting a professional eye over the stockade she surmised that, as far as field fortifications went, it was sturdy. A deep and wide ditch was the first obstacle, the earth piled up to form a wall with the top mounted with a fence behind which they could see the occasional sentry. Riten idly wondered what method had been used to ensure the earth wall did not collapse when they reached the gate, the camp being small it did not take much time to do so. A sentry stood there slouched on his spear. The mans cloths were identical to what peasants wore, a primitive shield his only armour. He straightened slightly as he saw his guests.

'Administrator.'

He greeted them, a wary expression present of a man who was used to sizing everybody he met as a potential enemy, Gakushin had the man marked as a brigand the moment she saw him.

'We're here to see your chief.' – the administrator paused and indicated the officers, - 'These are generals Gakushin, Ukin and Riten.'

The sentry nodded and prodded a child with the end of his spear.

'Go tell the Messenger.'

The child, Gakushin couldn't make out whether it was a boy or girl under the dirt, nodded and ran off leaving the sentry who turned back to them.

'You know the way.'

And with that waved the group in. Past the sentry the general leaned in and asked,

'Messenger?'

'That's what they call him, "Messenger from Heaven". You'll see for yourself why.'

Somewhat baffled by the explanation Gakushin paid attention to the camp and saw it resembled a village more than any other military camp she had been in. Tents were absent; instead there were plenty of hovels, an ample supply of children running around hard at work on various tasks. But what really caught the generals attention were the men in the central ground, never had she seen infantry drilled to hold formation like that! She looked over them with a critical eye and did not see many mistakes that could be exploited. It was only when Ukin grabbed her arm and pointed that she noticed what was the cause of the administrators surprise concerning the group.

The child sent as a messenger had delivered the news to a scrawny man whose body was covered in what could only be described as a grey shirt that at an angle would catch the light with a shine like silver. The mans head was almost completely concealed underneath a hood and simple helmet of the same material, leaving only grey eyes visible, eyes that watched the guests carefully. He said something and the men stopped their drill, sitting down with a myriad of pleased sounds.

The man walked up to the group, Riten noticing his left hand going over beads on a string as he did.

'Greetings administrator. And these must be the generals I've been told about.'

Zhyv greeted his guests.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

**Second chapter and just a few notes: As I have encountered a number of ways to spell the characters names I opted for the ones which I found easiest to remember, so please don't sue or attempt to murder me because I know that there are alternate ways which are probably better.**

**On a second note those with some knowledge of arms and armour might be surprised at the concept that the locals don't know mail armour. To the best of my knowledge this is fact as the Chinese first came into contact with mail in the 6th/7th centuries, long after the three kingdoms period. Whats more the armour never became as common as it was in Europe or the middle east even after it was introduced. A similar problem may be caused by the deadly efficiency I prescribe to the european sword as common wisdom claims such weapons were clumsy and more akin to clubs than swords. Common wisdom is only common, rarely however wise as european swords were well balanced, sharp as razors and flexible tools of murder easily capable of cutting through flesh, bone and, though with difficulty, dealing with armour.**

**To be fair the brothers have the advantage of several centuries over their new acquaintances as contemporary arms in Europe (Imperial Roman era) were not much better than those of China during the Three Kingdoms. The matter of the earth and timber fortifications, every nobleman for a long time had the basics set in and of course long time campaigners would have practical knowledge of building such things. Add to that the centuries between them and theres the explanation why the man was able to make something that surprised arguably the only engineer in the KM group... or so I thought. **


	3. Chapter 3

- 'On three.'

When the designated number came the men lifted the beam and shifted it to clear the street. Luoyang was burned, but far from dead. With order restored soldiers chased the residents to clearing the streets of ruins. In a show of mercy the armies commander, Ensho, had opened the stores found in the capital and distributed grain under the watchful eye of her soldiers. That along with the public display of the bodies of those accused of looting had calmed the situation and the city was busy with reconstruction.

Among the soldiers of Ensho however now stood soldiers from the armies of Totaku and Soso, all three working to keep order and restore normality to the city, but all viewing each other with distrust.

The same atmosphere was in the capital where the commanders of each army took residence.

- 'I still do not see why I should be the one to take on the cost of the food brought in to the city.'

'Because it is your soldiers that burned the city in the first place.'

Soso replied to Ensho's complaint. The older officer twisted her face as she was prone to when dealing with something she found distasteful as she replied.

- 'I understand you would do better in stopping two thousand men intent on avenging the death of their commander? It is only through my efforts that the damage is as limited as it is.'

-'Efforts taken only after the entire imperial court is dead or unaccounted for? Truly such timing is nothing short of miraculous.'

A moments silence fell and the eyes of both officials narrowed. Slowly Ensho replied.

-'My efforts were aimed at securing the safety of the imperial family, not the court.'

'Then why was it the men of my lord that saved the imperial siblings from the situation?'

Both blondes turned their attention to the new speaker, first amongst the strategists of the governess of Dong, Kaku glared at the lords. Behind her sat the governess herself, little visible of the lord under her clothes, even her face was concealed by a veil.

Instead of replying Ensho leaned back in her seat as she spoke.

-'Speaking of the subject it is most fortunate that you were so close with your men when you were.'

-'I must admit I also find you're timing most convenient.'

Soso added her agreement to the unspecified accusation, an accusation not lost on Kaku.

-'You dare suggest that we had somehow planned this! I would suggest you guard yourself from such foolishness!'

-'For that matter isn't it odd for a strategist to speak in such an assembly as if she were a lord? Why doesn't Totaku herself speak?'

Kaku's reply went unvoiced as a small hand rested on her arm. The strategist turned in surprise as her lord leaned forward and spoke in a silent though firm voice.

-'The words of Kaku are my words. I merely though it would be convenient for them to carried in a voice louder than my own.'

Neither of the other lords replied to the statement, the short silence used by Totaku as she continued.

-'As I have your attention perhaps I might suggest we continue discussing what to do with the city, rather than hurl accusations at one another.'

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Even under the cover of the canvas roof the heat was intense, sweat pouring from the bodies of the mail clad men under it. Flies were thick in the air, as the insect's usual stupor had been driven away by their desire to settle on the sticky red sand and the blood stained tables. Orderlies did their best to keep the flies from settling on wounds but the moment they turned the insects would descend again.

-'Where's the surgeon?'

-'Here.'

One of the men replied as he walked up, wiping his hands in a bloody cloth. Stanbor pointed to Hugo, pale faced and each breath coming with effort.

-'Arrow to the chest, he needs help.'

-'He waits his turn.'

The surgeon dismissed him with a wave of the hand only to cry out when the hand found itself in a vicelike grip. Zhyv forced Stanbor to let go but did not let the surgeon far.

-'Do it now, properly, and you get a half denary. Test my patience and I flay you alive. Any objections?'

There were none.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::;:::

Hugo opened his eyes and decided that he should really drop the habit of waking up in strange surroundings. He was now staring at an unfamiliar sight of an awning, shifting his head and ignoring the pain it involved he saw he was in a bed in an impressive room. Unease made him sit up, wincing in pain. Looking to the source he saw his wounded arm and leg bandaged. He remembered.

A timely intervention, hasty words exchanged between Sonshoko and someone else and men took to his wounds, hissing as they did at the sheer amount of blood. Hugo remembered that he had nearly bit the belt shoved in his mouth in two as they removed the arrow from his leg, only for the medics words to sink in, the arrow had been poisoned.

Afterwards he only had brief images and a sensation of movement until now. Sitting at the edge of the bed he cursed as his vision swam and he forced himself to slow down. Head settled he stood up, wincing as he did but kept his feet. He was pleased to notice that his gear was placed nearby and wasted no time in removing the robe he had on and putting on his armour, the familiar weight reassuring in an unknown place.

He ran a hand over his chin, now covered in enough stubble that it resembled a beard as he wondered over his situation, wounds patched up, his equipment fixed and within reach meant he was either among friends, or enemies that saw no reason to not be civil. With he decided the best way to find out which would be to question someone.

Leaving the room was easy as the door was unlocked and no guards were outside. Stepping out Hugo found himself on what was the marriage of a corridor and a balcony, one side leading to a series of doors, the other opened to a garden. The man managed to notice this much before realizing that he was not alone.

A longhaired girl kneeled not far away, her back towards him. Not strange in itself but the sword on her back gave him pause. Not knowing what else to do he walked up to the figure and though he made no effort to be silent she did not turn, completely engrossed in something. Leaning in he looked over her shoulder to see what, she was playing with a cat.

-'Morning.'

He decided on a conventional method of drawing attention to himself, the scale of its success shocked him. The girl literally jumped as if burned, the cat followed suite and ran off. Hugo jerked upward at the sudden movement and took a step back, his hand instinctively going to his sword.

The girl in the meantime landed and spun around, her eyes already wide in surprise widened even more when she saw Hugo accompanied by her jaw dropping.

-'Um…'

Hugo began before the girl cried out and pointed at him.

-'When did you… How… I mean… oh no!'

Before running away leaving a very surprised Hugo behind, the man sighed and decided to go in the same direction. Down a flight of stairs he found himself in a garden with a number of paths leading away to different buildings, but still no sign of anybody to question. Just as he decided where to go he heard movement and had enough time to turn around before something slammed into him with enough force to knock him over.

-'Hugo!'

The thing shouted even as its vice like grip tightened around him.

-'Sonshoko! Let go of me or my wounds might open!'

Hugo greeted the object and travelling companion not without some relief as he had already decided the girl meant him no ill, so it would seem that he was in a safe place. His attention however soon shifted to a number of other people approaching. No, he corrected himself, women. Everybody in the group was female. Hugo briefly wondered what this meant even as he registered another matter, Sonshoko's dress was not the most revealing in the company, not that the man minded much.

-'So this is the supposed messenger of heaven?'

One of the newcomers stated, causing a raised eyebrow in Hugo. Before he could do anything another chided the first.

-'Renfa!'

It was enough and she fell silent, though a sour look remained. Sonshoko in the meantime had detached herself from the man and gestured at the group.

-'These are my sisters, Shere… I mean, Sonsaku and Shoren as well as our retainers, Shūyu, Rikuson, Ryomo, Kannei and Shutai.'

Hugo stood up and did his best to remember the names and associated faces. Kannei he thought he might have recognized from his more lucid moments when wounded whereas Shutai he immediately recognized as the girl playing with the cat, the very long sword helped in her identification. As he tilted his head in greeting he couldn't help a slight tug of his lip upward at the thought, it seemed she noticed and looked away flustered.

The one presented as Sonsaku smiled a polite smile in return to his tilted head, but spoke before he could actually say anything.

-'Hugo, was it? If you could follow me, I am certain you have many questions and I admit to possessing a number myself. However I always find that such conversations go better over a drop of alcohol.'

Hugo couldn't help but smile at that.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Stanbor did his best not to betray his uncertainty but facing the situation he was currently in taxed him. He had already come to terms with the reality of witchcraft throwing him God knows how many miles from Asia Minor to Cathay, but being stared at by a number of women of varying age taxed him anew. These, he had been told, were the highest notables of the province he was in and though previously warned that he would meet them he was not informed that they would all be female. Of course he had seen women in power before, the women in Constantinople for example wielded a lot of influence, but those were all special circumstances.

Those in Constantinople were puppet masters, working behind the scenes with bribery, blackmail and assassins. Others in more honourable parts of Europe were stepping in for absent husbands or for underage heirs or in nunneries. The sight of so many women in one place holding power gave him pause. Was China the mythic Amazonia? But Zhyv always said that that land did not exist, merely the result of antiquities idle fantasies but than again he had always said the same about magic. As the man went over his thought Kanu addressed her comrades.

-'This is Stanbor…'

That was as far as she got before Rinrin jumped in.

-'He's strong! He's also the messenger of heaven.'

Kanu sighed and the girls continued to stare. Stanbor stepped forward and with a slight tilt of his head and a hand against his chest in salute.

-'Greetings.'

Still nothing. Stanbor shifted his gaze from one to another, the oldest woman in the assembly as well as another, pale one regarded him with interest, their gaze making him straighten his posture and pull in his stomach. The shortest in the group, bar Rinrin, watched him with open eyes and an open mouth until she noticed his gaze shift to her when she blushed and looked away. The mans observation was cut short as another stepped forward with the obvious question.

-'How do you know he's the messenger of heaven?'

-'Easy Sui!' Rinrin replied – 'He said so.'

A collective sigh followed at the girls willingness to accept facts without doubt and it was Kanu who offered a better explanation.

-'Witnesses saw him descend from heaven.'

That was a lie as he merely fell from a tree but there was no point in going into that story.

-'And when bandits assaulted him Stanbor cut them down, his weapon cutting through bone and armour with ease.'

This was fact and the girls showed new interest in him as they took in the information.

-'Besides.' – Kanu finished, - 'How many of you have seen a shirt made of "Mail" that is capable of turning sword and arrow?'

-'It's not a shirt, it's a hauberk.'

Stanbor tried to correct but nobody paid any attention as they all started asking questions that turned into one loud noise until somebody caught their attention by ringing a gong. All eyes turned to the source. Ryubi stood with a smile as she spoke.

-'If Aisha says he is a messenger from heaven than I'm sure he is. Even if he isn't I know one thing. These three are tired from the road so how about we finish this discussion after a lunch?'

Nobody objected.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Much like his younger sibling Zhyv was coming to terms that no less than four important individuals he had met were female, young ones at that. Though the moment he left home he accepted that some lands could be different from what he knew this was getting strange even for him, could it be that he was mistaken and Amazonia did exist? If so why were the soldiers male than? Thankfully he had plenty on his mind other than that.

Fingers moving over the beads of his rosary he looked both left and right, expecting to see the men under his command in line, he was not disappointed. The two dozen brigands who had sworn loyalty to him stood as instructed, taking cover in the thickets. Somewhere ahead were the brigands causing trouble to the region though until scouts found where exactly the man could only wait.

Rather than waste time on unproductive thought and instead turned to look back. Frowning at the lack of soldiers there he paced up the line until he came across the man he was looking for.

-'Zhu.'

-'Yes messenger?'

Zhyv scowled at the name given to him but decided not to comment and continued to address the brigand that had become the groups leader under him.

-'How far back is the next group?'

-'About a Li sir.'

Having already discovered some time ago what that distance meant he frowned.

-'Ask their commander to close in on us.'

Zhu looked down before coughing and looking up again with a troubled face.

-'Your permission to speak Messenger?'

-'Speak.'

-'They won't move up for a mercenary, lord.'

Zhyv's scowl deepened and he sighed.

-'See if they'll move for the messenger of heaven.'

Zhu nodded and moved to do as told, after a while Zhyv heard movement and a line of soldiers trotted into view before stopping more than a bowshot away. Further than the knight would have wanted but he wouldn't complain.

-'They agreed, messenger.'

Zhu reported unnecessarily as he trotted back up to his place. Zhyv nodded anyway and continued to walk up and down the line, occasionally checking elements of his mens gear as he waited for orders.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

-'Everybody is in position, all we need is to know where to strike.'

-'Good.'

With that Gakushin fell silent as she observed the men in their positions, looking for faults. Riten nodded and rocked on her heels as she hummed a tune before bouncing on the balls of her feet. The general attempted to not pay attention but the constant movement finally made her turn.

-'What?'

-'What do you think?'

-'About?'

Riten sighed in exasperation as she nearly shouted.

-'The messenger!'

Realizing how loud that came out she clamped her hands over her mouth before continuing in a more silent tone.

-'I mean, do you think he is the messenger of heaven?'

-'What about you?'

Gakushin offered instead of an answer. Riten paused and placed her hand to her chin making the general sigh; somehow she wasn't surprised that her companion did not think to deeply on the matter herself.

-'I don't know.' – She finally admitted. – 'You remember when he took his helmet off? He looked nothing like what people say the immortals of heaven are… If I'm to be honest I think he looks like one of those people that grandmothers insist need fattening.'

The mental image made Gakushin smirk, which did not escape Riten's notice and used it as an invitation to continue the discussion.

-'So, what do you think?'

She attempted again. The smile vanished and the general turned away.

-'I think we should concentrate on finding out where our enemy is rather than waste time on discussing a mercenary.'

She stated, killing the conversation. Fortunately the silence did not last long. Ukin chose that moment to return and wasted no time in joining her companions with her report.

-'We found them. They're about six Li from here. They've got themselves an island hidden in the marshes.'

Gakushin nodded as she took in the information.

-'Inform the officers, lets see what we can make of the situation.'

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

It was only after the doors shut behind her that Totaku allowed herself to sigh, her shoulders drooped and her entire pose lightened, as if a weight had been lifted from her.

'Well done, Yue.'

Kaku said in an attempt to cheer her lord up. The girl looked up with a faint smile but the reply did not come from her but from another, his voice like oil on ice.

'Indeed girl, well done.'

Both girls looked up to a chair that they could have sworn had been unoccupied a moment ago. It was the known to them figure of a man covered head to toe in heavy robes who came and went as he pleased with little regard to armed guards and stone walls.

'What is it magician?'

Kaku challenged. The form merely shrugged its shoulders.

'I am keeping an eye on my investment, surely you can not blame me for that.'

Kaku bite back a retort, for there she did not wish to antagonize the man for a simple reason, he had invested in them and he was the reason they moved where needed to claim custody over the child emperor.

Though nothing of the mans face was visible both Totaku and Kaku could feel his gaze boring into them and before long both averted their eyes. Standing up the warlock seemed to glide around the table, his robes sliding off the top revealing a scroll.

'In here you will find instructions as to what you are to do. Make sure that you are thorough.'

That said the figure moved for the door. Totaku shivered as the man passed her, breath coming hard to her as if the air vanished in his wake. It was with great effort that she forced any sound out.

'Um.'

A whisper, one that Kaku did not hear and yet the man stopped and turned his head, unseen eyes bearing on her like a weight and Totaku had to look away to find the will to say anything.

'About… that is…'

'They are safe as I guaranteed.'

The man replied the unworded question. Before the girl could breath in relief the voice reminded her there was little to be relieved about.

'A guarantee I will not uphold should I find reason to doubt you, remember that.'

With that he left the considerably paler governess.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

'Order from the general, advance and engage.'

Zhyv nodded in acknowledgment before turning to Zhu.

'Get them ready.'

With a nod the former brigand moved to do as told leaving Zhyv free to prepare himself. With a sigh the man pulled the sword out of the fleece lined scabbard and stuck it into the ground as an impromptu cross as he knelt before sliding his helmet and coif off. A short prayer later he stood up, putting his armour back in place. Turning around as he fastened the flap to cover his lower face he was met by the curious stare of the former yellow turbans as they tried to understand the meaning behind the knights acts. Nobody voiced any questions though and Zhyv double-checked the straps of his shield before picking up his sword.

'Keep together and follow my lead. Triumph here and you will be able to re-enter society wealthier by that what you take from your enemy.'

Several men nodded, others simply looked on with pale faces. Zhyv turned and began the advance, soon followed by the others. Here Zhyv offered some final words to calm himself.

'Deus Vult.'

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The sound of the ruan sounded in the clearing. A number of people sat around the musician in silence glad for a moment of something other than struggle. A sentry, watching the simple plank bridge hidden amongst reeds looked back to the camp, humming the tune till strong hands grabbed him from behind, cutting off the air from his vocal cords before dragging him under water. Another stood; dripping wet and took the sentries place on the bridge. At a distance he would pass as the now dead man.

With the sentry gone columns of soldiers made their way through the water and mud, closing in on the brigands camp. Gakushin's hand slid to the hilt of her weapon as she began to wonder when her luck would run out. Sooner or later somebody would notice the men moving in and from then on it would be down to steel. The answer was, not long.

Dogs began to bark and men moved to them, some with curses and demands that they fall silent, others looking towards where the animals were looking, wondering what had agitated them. There was little more to be gained be stealth and Gakushin knew it. Standing up she ordered the attack.

Soso's men attacked without formation but the brigands were unprepared and scattered, a number were cut down before they could even find their weapons. A brutal melee started, one without ranks, formation or tactics. Merely two forces colliding with the intention of slaughtering the other with stabs, slashes, over hand hacking, punching, kicking and biting, all that is brutal, effective or simply desperate.

The brigand shouted as he stabbed with enough force to render flesh and bone if the attack connected, it didn't. Gakushin stepped to the left bringing her blade up before slashing from the wrist. She hit with the very tip of the blade, cutting through skin and the neck artery releasing a spray of bright blood. The brigand dropped his weapon as both hands moved to the wound even as his feet gave way underneath him, he hit the ground hard where he kicked the earth a few times before dying.

'Get back into formation!'

She called out. The nearest soldiers heard her and moved to her side but most remained oblivious.

'Mao! Sawa! Formation!'

No effect. The brawl continued with only those within earshot linking up with her to form some sort of formation. With a cross between a snarl and sigh she yanked back a brigands head and drew the blade across his throat before kicking the corpse aside and yanking the soldier that had almost died at her victims hand to his feet.

Looking for where the brigand's resistance was thickest she ordered the formation onward, promising herself that she would remind people why she gives orders before a fight.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

'Stay in formation!'

Standing at the extreme left of the line Zhyv saw exactly whenever the line threatened to break due to someone being overzealous in going forward, or someone attempting to hold back. Behind the first line marched the second, with Zhu on the extreme right, instructed to do what Zhyv was doing in the front.

The men that had originally marched behind the former turbans were now in the brawl of a melee in what was the brigands camp, Zhyv had no intention of letting those under his command follow that example, he repeated the order to stay in line as it again threatened to break. It could take years to properly train men to hold formation when moving and even then lines could break as blood began pounding in the veins.

A shape tore from the melee and ran near blind straight onto a mans sword, others followed suit, only to slow and stop as the former turbans heeded Zhyvs reminders to stay in line and did not break off to engage making the brigands face a solid line of men hiding behind shields. The former yellow turbans had no practical experience in such fighting bar that what Zhyv taught them, now they saw a proffesional at work. The knight took a step forward, sword hidden behind the shield which he than thrust towards a brigand. The brigand stepped back to avoid the shield, sword hand instinctively moving to the side to steady his balance. Zhyv struck then, tempered steel punching through the leather scale vest and into the brigands stomach. The man bent over with a gasp before Zhyv thrust the shield into the dying man and pushed him off the blade.

The former turbans turned mercenaries followed suit and attacked, with much less skill than the knight though being in formation gave them an advantage against individuals. Even if a brigand succeeded in blocking one attack the man next would use the opening to deliver a wounding blow. Here and there, however, the lack of skill showed and one mercenary fell, clutching his wounded leg another staggered back, a spear lodged between his ribs. In another place a brigand slammed into a shield, knocking several men off balance and pushing through the line, the men in the second line however stepped up and attacked him from three directions at once; he was dead before he hit the ground. Those brigands that wished to use the hole in the shield wall were cut down; two attempted to use the fact that the mercenaries were occupied with that problem and attacked the man on the end of the formation. Two seconds later one was screaming as he watched his insides spill on the ground while the other fell in a daze after the boss of Zhyv's shield slammed into his face, he was dead a second later as Zhyv pinned him to the ground.

The violent death of several of their comrades gave the brigand's pause, many moving away to avoid the formation. Calling a halt Zhyv waited until the lines were reorganized before allowing the men to advance again. There was still plenty of killing to be done.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The mail gave a slight rattle as Stanbor sat down with a sigh, for better or for worse he had made a decision and was know officially in the service of the Governor of Gaotang, Ryubi Gentoku. The man leaned back in the chair as he mused over the fact, a mercenary again but not a single lance but in the post of a commander! If his brothers knew they would not be able to contain their envy! The chair slammed back on the floor and the man stood up, the smile disappeared replaced with a frown. What of his brothers?

Were they still near Antioch? Had they also been thrown to China with him? Or had some other curse come upon them? If they were in China perhaps he could find them… He sighed under the weights of the dark thoughts that assailed him and was glad when someone knocked at the door, breaking his mood.

'Enter.'

'Lord Stanbor.'

Kanu greeted the man as she entered.

'My sister asks whether the accommodation is to your liking?'

By sister the man assumed the girl was referring to Ryubi rather than Rinrin, primarily because the youngest of the three struck him as the type who would simply barge in and ask the question herself.

'Ah, yes. Actually it is much more impressive than I thought it would be. I'm used to having no ceiling and a saddle for a pillow.'

Kanu suppressed a laugh as she walked up to the window.

'I know the feeling. The first night I spent here I couldn't sleep, the bed was far to comfortable!'

It was Stanbors turn to chuckle, afterwards the man coughed and Kanu shifted her weight as silence fell between the two, the topic exhausted.

'So.'

He started, making the girl look up.

'About this "Messenger of Heaven" business…'

'They believe it.'

Kanu interrupted what was meant to be a question. Stanbor looked at her making the girl pause as she realized her outburst.

'I mean… maybe…no. They are willing to accept you.'

'They?'

'Everyone. The villagers and townsfolk. The soldiers and my friends, all of them. Even if they have doubts they want to believe that you are a Messenger from Heaven.'

Kanu's voice rose in volume as she spoke causing Stanbor to step back. The girl stopped as she realized the fact and her face went red. Stanbor used to silence to remind her of something.

'I'm no messenger, heavens least of all.'

Kanu shook her head.

'The divine work in strange ways, perhaps you are their messenger but unaware of the fact?'

She raised her hand to cut off what she assumed would be another denial from the man.

'You are drawn from your land by force and flung somewhere on the other side of the world. Despite this, when confronted with such a situation you calmly accept it and decide to join what is not your fight in the hopes of bringing order to this country. Even before that you fought what I understand to have been a good cause.'

Stanbor sighed and was about to offer a rebuttal; he had not been calm and his decision to join the girl's quest was more through the need of security in a strange land. Besides he had always fought out of two things, anger and payment. He didn't voice the rebuttal however as a question rose. Had he always fought out of anger and for pay? No. Rarely but he had, on occasion, served "Pro bono publico."

With that he recalled other things, towns and villages under the Mediterranean sun whose only inhabitants still alive were those still dying after being impaled by Seljuk raiders, of sacred places desecrated and of the anger he felt at those responsible. Yes he fought for money but at times he felt that there was more to the war than just that. The man sighed and nodded.

'Perhaps… perhaps it would be comforting if this was divine will and not some blind chance.'

'Whatever the reason...'

Kanu offered.

'I think…'

She got no further as the door was violently flung open, making both herself and Stanbor jump, his hand moving to his weapon before he was even aware of the fact.

'Bro!'

The source of the commotion screeched as she slid to a stop.

'Bro! Lets go on patrol!

'Rinrin! Don't just barge into people's rooms like that! Besides you shouldn't drag those not assigned on a patrol!'

'Eh! But I wanna hang out with bro too! You shouldn't hog him to yourself!'

Kanu turned a dark shade of red.

'I am doing no such thing!'

Stanbor leaned back against the wall and couldn't help a smile appearing as he observed the two squabble. All things considered his situation could have been a lot worse.

*******:::::::::::::::::::::::?:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

All in all it was a nice day, true the sun was on the hot side but the garden somehow managed to be on the cool side. Hugo sighed and soothed his throat with a drink, Sonsaku however did not touch hers, instead she stared at it with a thoughtful expression.

They were the only two present at the table, the governess of Wu had asked to be left alone with the man and her sisters and retainers objected so she than repeated her request, that time even Hugo felt his blood chill. Once drinks were set on the table the woman offered her thanks for his part in delivering Sonshoko back to Moling before jumping into business, business under the topic of messengers of heaven.

'Antioch… well you're a long way from where you started.'

She finally sighed. Hugo looked up, eyebrow raised.

'You've heard of Antioch? You'd be the first.'

'Heard, but that's it. Nearly a century ago the emperor of the west sent envoys to Chang'an and this Antioch was mentioned in documents about said visit. I believe you are the first barb… foreigner to be in this land since then.'

Hugo frowned as he thought over things.

'Did you hear of any other "Messengers of Heaven"? Any rumours of such perhaps?'

Sonsaku looked up before she realized what he was asking.

'Ah, your brothers… no I have received no reports of metal clad, white skinned, sun burnt individuals running around China, and rest assured my agents will hear and investigate such rumours.'

Hugo nodded; the question that remained unanswered was what was to happen with him now?

'Of course that leaves the question of what is to happen with you now?'

For a moment the man thought that he had said the words out loud before realizing that it was the woman who had voiced the question he was thinking about. Sonsaku looked at the man with a smile that made Hugo think of a self-satisfied cat. The man leaned in, locking his hands and using them as a rest for his chin.

'Am I to understand that your enlightened person has an answer to said question?'

Sonsaku's smile grew as she mimicked the mans stance.

'Mandate of Heaven, you are aware of the term, no? What better mandate is there than the support of a messenger from heaven?'

'Assuming that you can actually find such a messenger.'

Hugo pointed out, lifting his head of his hands as he did so as if emphasizing the point. Sonsaku's smile remained in place.

'Sometimes a mortal can create his own message from heaven. All that is needed is a bit audacity.'

The woman straightened in her chair, the smile disappearing.

'Putting that matter aside I have gone over the reports regarding you, even if only half if it is true I would still welcome such skill in my service. Would you serve the Son family? Perhaps your destiny will manifest while at it?'

Hugo did not reply immediately as he mulled over the fact though in truth he quickly decided their was nothing to think about as apart from the Son family he knew no one in this foreign land.

'In that case your cause is my cause now.'

He stated simply. Sonsaku raised her eyebrow at the unusual, for her, oath but recognized it for what it was and nodded her acceptance before smiling again.

'Done. Now to get you familiar with your new surroundings…'

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

'Are you serious?'

The tone was one of surprise more than shock. Ensho, Soso and Totaku had once again gathered to discuss matters of state though with one sentence Totaku had thrown the meeting off course.

'Would you care to expand on your suggestion?'

Soso added her own words to the more honest reaction of Ensho.

'The emperor is a good-natured boy, but a simpleton. Xie however, despite his youth is already proving to be of a sharp mind. I believe he would be a better emperor.'

'To say nothing of the fact that as a child he would need council for a much longer period of time than his elder brother.'

Soso added, an unpleasant smile spreading on her face. Totaku turned the northern governor and began in a surprisingly calm voice.

'You are suggesting that I…'

'I suggest absolutely nothing. I stated a fact.'

Soso interrupted with a hand raised in what was seen as a calming gesture. Ensho, silent till now, brought attention to herself by declaring.

'I agree with Totaku.'

The others turned to the officer who shrugged.

'There is no point in hiding the fact that Xie is more talented than Bian and despite what some may claim.'- Here she threw a shot glare at Soso. - 'I have China's best interest at heart.'

Soso sighed but nodded.

'Fair enough, I see no reason to not replace the emperor with his brother.'

'Excellent. Now the second matter I would like to bring up is the matter of who is to be regent.'

'Let me guess.' – Ensho interrupted. – 'You mean yourself.'

Totaku tilted her head as if surprised by the interruption.

'You object?'

'Of course I damn well object!'

Ensho emphasized the point by slamming her hand into the table.

'By what right should the position go to you?'

Totako leaned forward, hands folding in front of her, as she replied.

'China is weak. Brigands rule the lands between settlements and governors rule as if they were independent kings, we all now this is a fact. To strengthen China we need to re-establish the Han's authority and to do that we need an army capable of enforcing the law. I have such an army.'

Scowls appeared on the faces of both Ensho and Soso as they looked for a way to counter that argument, they failed. Totaku nodded as she leaned back in the chair.

'Good. Now let see about positions for you two and move on to the details.'

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

'Another day, another triumph.'

Riten said with satisfaction as she slumped in her chair, arms stretching out as she worked the stiffness out of her joints. Gakushin snorted as she sat down as well.

'What's the butchers bill this time?'

She asked with a sigh.

'Still counting.' – Ukin answered. – 'Many of the missing will probably be found somewhere in the swamps or simply unrecognisable from the brigands. As it stands however we have a hundred and seven dead along with nearly twice that wounded. The surgeons say we should expect at least a quarter to die overnight.'

'More or less normal than.'

Gakushin summed it up as she picked up her cup and leaned back taking a long draught as she did. She suddenly remembered something and leaned forwards again, the sound of the chair hitting the ground making the others jump in their seats.

'What about the mercenary? How did his men do?'

Riten and Ukin looked up at the question, a moment's silence as they tried to remember any information on the subject.

'We can't really say.'

Came the honest reply, Ukin shrugging her shoulders as she said so.

'The administrator still has to pay him so he obviously hasn't suffered that much.'

'Word in the camp.'

Riten interrupted.

'Is that they were a killing machine. No duels or anything interesting but the bodies were thick around them.'

'Around them?'

Gakushin interrupted, eyes narrowing. Riten paled slightly and gave a nervous cough.

'Apparently they fought in, ah, formation.'

Silence fell for a moment, Riten and Ukin glancing nervously at their superior who didn't move nor speak for a second, only a second. The chair fell back violently and both girls found themselves in a vicelike grip, their skulls being ground against each other.

'So a group of brigands turned mercenary can hold formation better than soldiers of Soso! Is that what you're telling me!'

'Sorry!'

Riten managed to say as her vision darkened while the best Ukin could manage was something along the lines of "Owowowow!" The attempt to squeeze juice from the two heads was cut short by a voice from outside the tent.

'With pardon general but the… uh… Messenger is asking to see you.'

Riten and Ukin nearly collapsed when their heads were released, taking a few steps back while clutching their heads. Gakushin briefly wondered if this what they meant by speaking of the devil.

'Let him enter.'

The tent flap was pulled aside and Zhyv strode in. He cast a curious glance at the two clutching their heads before looking to Gakushin.

'Congratulations on your victory, it was deserved.'

'Indeed, though you had your part in it.'

"Messenger of Heaven" the phrase showed in her mind again as she considered the man before her. Undeniably a barbarian with equipment so foreign one could not help but notice the fact. A practiced eye took in an un-elegant sword devoid of any decoration bar a number of scratches on its guard that might be letters of sort though not any that she knew.

Riten and Ukin had stopped massaging their aching skulls and made their own observations. Riten letting out a sigh as she realized that the metal shirt was made from what seemed to be thousands of metal rings and found herself leaning in for a closer look, wondering as to how such a thing was made.

Ukin on the other hand primarily noticed that the man was taller than any other man she had seen and though not as broad as many his frame was impressive. She also decided that the unkempt beard made him look more like a deranged prophet rather than any depiction of an immortal of heaven she had seen.

Zhyv for his part once more reminded himself that despite the rather impractical clothing these three were high ranking members of the local lord, and he should be tactful. As such he did what he usually did in such circumstances, he fixed his gaze somewhere above Gakushins head as he got the reason why he asked to see her.

'I want to offer your prisoners amnesty.'

Silence fell along with several jaws. Zhyv scratched his chin wondering whether he should repeat himself when Ukin asked what was on the trio's mind.

'What?'

Zhyv sighed and repeated his request.

'My men heard that you intend to execute them; I thought I might first offer them a chance to serve me. Rest assured they would be held firmly and would not be escaping justice through this.'

A collective nod of understanding followed the more precise explanation to the mans previous statement. Gakushin sat down and invited the man to do likewise; Zhyv did so after a moment's hesitation followed by Ukin and Riten. Gakushin nodded as she answered the question.

'You may, but only after I myself have done so. You'd be surprised how many men in the northern garrisons are made up of men given the choice between service or a painful death.'

'I see.'

Zhyv replied with a sigh as he stood up.

'Than I shall take my…'

'Stop!'

The mans words were cut off as Riten stood abruptly, knocking the chair back as she did, both Gakushin and Zhyv reaching to their weapons at the sudden movement. Seemingly unperturbed by their reaction the source of the commotion continued.

'We are going to eat soon so you should stay!'

The words were directed at Zhyv whose reply was something along the lines of "ah". Gakushin extended a hand ready to grip the engineer by the shoulder and demand an explanation but was stopped by Ukin who moved next to her and whispered,

'Don't. We have a plan.'

'Plan?'

'Get the guy drunk and see what's up with him.'

Riten continued to assault the man with a torrent of words that in a much-shortened version could be summarised as "Victorious commanders should dine together after a battle." Drawing attention from the conspiring duo.

'How the hell did you manage to conspire this while sitting opposite sides of the table? No, more importantly how did you come up with such a retarded idea?'

'It's not retarded.'

Ukin puffed her cheeks in irritation.

'Guys always spill their thoughts when drinking with cute girls, everyone knows that!'

Before Gakushin could ask who these "everyone" were and what she meant by "cute" the girl had moved away to organize things and Gakushin ended up being able only to sigh as she lost control of things.

**:::"":"::":""":::":"::":":"":":

An open expanse stretching about a kilometre till the forest took over cut only by roads currently filled with merchants and local farmers returning from their business in the city.

Stanbor turned his attention from the distant and moved closer, a frown forming as he looked down at the cities defences. A moat, flooded with water from a nearby river would be the first obstacle met by an attacker and it was here that the man felt some irritation. Instead of seemingly growing from the water there was a weed-infested stretch of land between the moat and the wall, ample room for an attacker gather while hauling up ladders. Admittedly if his guides word were true and the wall was made from rammed earth than having the wall starting immediately at the moat would have the water erode the foundations bringing the whole thing down but there was no excuse for not littering the area in-between the wall and moat with stakes and other instruments that would force an attacking army to a crawl as the removed the obstacles. Add to that the lack of towers cutting off sections of the wall and stairs leading directly to the city to say nothing of walks thick enough for several men to march comfortably side by side and you had the reasons for the mans dissatisfaction with the fortifications.

Stanbor nodded as he made a mental note of his observations and signalled the men assigned to him to follow. The thought that the men not so much assigned to him as to keep an eye on him but he had already shrugged it off, if that was the case he would deal with the matter when it became a problem. Heading to the stairs down he stopped as something caught his attention, signalling his escort to wait he approached the matter.

'Oy!'

'Nyan!'

Chouhi turned around with a strange sound at the challenge, making Stanbor wonder whether she was descended from a cat. Seeing the man the girl tilted her head to the side with a confused expression.

'Bro? Why are you here? Rinrin didn't call for you.'

'No, no you didn't but I decided to talk to you anyway.'

He replied with a shrug, his attention drawn to the locals obsession with having several names and decided to question someone about the matter.

'Did Rinrin do something wrong?'

Chouhi asked seeming to not believe the honest answer, the puzzled look making Stanbor smirk, a fact that the girl noticed.

'Ah! How dare you laugh behind Rinrins back!'

Face fierce Chouhi turned to face the man who in turn lifted his hands in a pacifying gesture.

'First I am doing it in your face. Second … never mind. What are you doing up here?'

The sudden question made Chouhi pause emitting another sound resembling a cat.

'I'm on watch duty.'

She replied matter-of-factly before jumping up, a surprised Stanbor taking a step back, before bringing her spear round in a vicious slash.

'I am Chouhi Yokutoku in the service of Ryubi Gentoku! Those who wish to become mist on my spear come at me!'

She declared but before Stanbor could even think of a reply she slammed the spear to an "at ease" stance.

'What does bro think? The bad guys will run away immediately right?'

'I think civilians would run away long before you even finish the speech.'

He replied with a good-natured grin. Chouhi's enthusiasm making him place her alongside children and pages who likewise thought combat involved boasting before duelling to the death. By the time they became squires they knew that one needed explicit permission from the armies commander to duel and any boasts were a waste of breath as they faded quickly in the thunderous sounds of armies awaiting battle.

'Bro just thought that Rinrin is like a child, didn't you!'

"Busted" Stanbor thought while Chouhi continued to complain.

'Rinrin is not a child! And I'll beat up any adu… I mean, anyone who says otherwise!'

Stanbor leaned on the parapet, humorous comment ready but stopped as a serious thought entered his mind and when he voiced it the tone made Chouhi pause.

'Aren't you afraid of fighting?'

'No. Rinrin is strong enough to beat anyone!'

'Even the strongest knight can die from a stray missile not even aimed at him or be struck down by a peasant from behind.'

Though Rinrin paused at the unfamiliar term "knight" she did understand what the man was saying and her expression became serious.

'Rinrin is strong so Rinrin is supposed to fight. Some people can't fight so it is the responsibility of the strong to protect them. That's what Aisha said anyway.'

Stanbor thought for a short while before nodding, this girl firmly believed the fact and if she truly followed such a philosophy... that would make her a better adult than he was.

'Well said. I'll leave you to your watch duty. Fulfilling your duties is also a mark of being an adult.'

'Leave it to Rinrin bro!'

With that declaration Chouhi turned around to watch the countryside, Stanbor turning around and walking down from the wall followed by his guards and soon found himself shuffling through crowds as he would have anywhere else in the world, though not entirely. Primarily anywhere else the man had been he did not have to deal with people viewing him with curiosity soon followed by whispered conversations, even if they hadn't heard rumours of the messenger of heaven the sight of a large man of completely foreign appearance still caused surprise. That combined with the soldiers clearing a path for him made him soon fall into thought broken only when he realized someone called out to him.

Stopping he looked around and noticed a vaguely familiar face in one of the shops.

'Ave. Choun was it?'

'Oh? You remembered, I'm impressed.'

The pale skinned woman sat at one of the booths lining the street and seemed to be in the middle of a meal despite this she continued to talk.

'Back from your trip already? Thank you for your hard work. What was it that you were doing again?'

'Just getting my bearings around here.'

He replied with a shrug but stopped from elaborating as something caught his interest. Leaning in he took a hard look at the contents of the bowl Choun was holding, an action that caused her to clutch it in a protective manner.

'What is that?'

'You're not getting any.'

'Fair enough but what is it.'

'Oh, your lordship is enquiring as to the name. This is ramen, perhaps you would simply join me if you are curious.'

Tempted the man almost agreed but remembered his guards. Theoretically he should feel free to do with them as he liked but firstly they were not his men and secondly he knew enough men who pushed subordinates too far and ended with a stab wound in the back. The senior amongst them noticed and spoke.

'If the messenger would like to eat we would simply loiter around for a moment.'

'Or you could report back to the barracks and leave him in my care.'

Choun interrupted. The guard thought for a moment before nodding.

'Very well. We entrust the messenger to your care.'

With what Stanbor saw as a rather improper passage of their responsibilities the soldiers made their way to the citadel leaving Stanbor with a woman he did not know much about.

'Well messenger! What'll it be?'

A man whom Stanbor assumed to be the stall owner asked almost immediately. Not really knowing what he was ordering the knight tried to decide what to say when the woman intervened.

'Give him the special.'

The man confirmed and disappeared. Stanbor shrugged and sat down, sliding his helmet off.

'I apologize if I seemed to be rude but I decided that as you did not seem to know much about the possibilities I would suggest something.'

'Truthfully? I was about to ask whether you had anything to recommend so I guess it worked out.'

Choun nodded and continued eating and in a short while Stanbor joined her. A brief moment of silence followed due to the serious business of eating during which Stanbor noticed a difference in what he was eating compared to what his partner was and soon found himself asking about it. Choun paused as if considering the question before offering an answer.

'My taste is well known to the owner so he tends to fix servings to suite it.'

'Well you seem to have little in the way of variety in the ingredients.'

The slight smile vanished from Chouns face as she turned to the man with a serious, almost fierce expression.

'"Little in the way of variety"! Spoken like an amateur! There is no lack of variety in menma! Not even in the same jar!'

At this point the woman stroke a serious pose, clenching her chopsticks tightly in one hand, the other holding the bowl high as if in salute. Stanbor could only look on, eyebrow raised.

'Your lordship will permit me to instruct you in the way of menma! To say that it is the chief amongst side dishes is just short of an understatement. Taking into the account the differences in the quality of shoot coming from different parts of the country, the differing methods of conservations and marinating between individual families one can is find the usage of the product is as varied as life itself!'

Silence fell and Choun glared at Stanbor as if expecting a reply but the best he could offer was an "I see". Choun sighed and sat down.

'I see that you do not. Truly I was hoping that a resident of heaven could appreciate the value as so little amongst those on earth seem capable… perhaps a practical study will show the matter clearly.'

That said she plucked a piece up, the smallest she could, and offered it to the man. Stanbor took the offered piece and slid it into his mouth. At first he couldn't taste anything but after when the after taste kicked in he had to admit, it was interesting and he said as much. A satisfied smile appeared on Chouns face at the words.

'Ah, but perhaps I have spoiled you somewhat for in my humble opinion the menma available here is amongst the best to be found anywhere in the country. The owner has his own plantation of bamboo and receives spices from his brother in law from Jiao and somehow combines them in such a manner that it the mere thought of coming here makes ones mouth water at the prospect.'

Not fully understanding her passion about the subject the man merely nodded expecting the lecture to continue.

'Messenger?'

'Yes?'

'You should start eating or it will go cold.'

Fully agreeing silence fell again for a few moments.

'Could I have another bit?'

'Buy your own.'

:::::::::::::::""::":":""

Hugo ran a gloved hand down the map as if taking in the information shown through his hand rather than his eyes. Satisfied he removed the weights at the corners letting the map curl up. Though it possessed plenty of information about China it showed very little beyond its borders. The northern border ended in the steppes which the man knew to stretch to Europe while the western border were marked by mountains beyond which he assumed lay Ind and Persia. The south was marked by the generic term "barbarians" whereas the east was marked by a body of water and though a few islands were marked it seemed that even here the locals had little interest in what lay further.

'Have you satisfied your curiosity my lord?'

'Ay. Thank you.'

Hugo replied to the one referred to as Rikusan, one of the most well endowed women the man had ever seen, and that was high praise coming from him, not that he actually voiced it.

'Not at all! I'm always happy to help finding material here. Too few people appreciate the joys of learning and the passion involved.'

As she spoke Rikusans voice began to change tone and soon she was almost panting them as a blush passed across her face and her eyes seemed to lose focus. Hugo had been at the point of standing up but stopped at the display, eyebrow raised. He probably would have stayed like that for a while was it not for a small voice catching his attention.

'I'm sorry my lord but when minister Rikusan gets onto the topic of knowledge she… well… shall we go further?'

Shutai, labelled as "playing with cat girl" in Hugo's mind, spoke with what Hugo guessed was embarrassment about her co-country woman's display and he nodded in silent agreement. They left the library in which Rikusan had started twitching in the spot saying something incoherent and entered the citadels courtyard. Hugo paused as he let his eyes get used to the sun. When they did he was in time to notice his guide/guard turn away from him before looking back.

'Where to lord?'

Hugo thought about it before deciding.

'You said that the guard would be training about now? If possible I'd like to observe.'

'Follow me.'

Shutai answered as she walked off and the two fell into silence. Hugo had already accepted the silence, using the time to observe and take in his surroundings, making mental notes on where he was and how to get there, breaking the silence only when he wished to be certain of something. Shutai would occasionally look at the man when she was certain his attention was elsewhere and marvelled at the mans size and his sheer, for a lack of better term, foreignness, making him both interesting and intimidating all at once. She had dozens of questions that she wanted to ask but stopped herself in case the "messenger of heaven" was to take offence.

They soon entered an open space filled with red clothed men duelling one another on one half and the other being occupied by similarly dressed individuals who seemed to be undergoing some sort of drill, a series of punches and kicks that Hugo thought looked impressive but saw little practical use for them on a battlefield. The man frowned as he scanned the field to confirm what he suspected, nowhere were the men practicing formation.

One of the officers overseeing the ground noticed the two and walked forward, Shutai stiffening at the sight and offering a bow. Hugo's response was much more restrained, a salute by pressing his hand to his chest. The woman he now recognized as Kannei offered a salute in the peculiar fashion used by the locals by forming a fist and placing it in the other hand as you bowed.

'Messenger. I trust my subordinate is doing her task properly.'

'She is.'

He replied without hesitation, causing the discussed girl to turn away in embarrassment at the praise, neither noticing as the man immediately moved on to the next subject.

'I understand I have you to thank for my life.'

Kannei shrugged.

'I was tasked with finding lady Sonshoko, it was at her insistence that effort be made to save you.'

Hugo shrugged as he replied,

'I did not think otherwise yet thanks are still in order.'

'I see.'

Kannei nodded before turning back to overseeing the training, Hugo folded his arms and doing likewise. Shutai let go of the breath she had been holding half expecting some sort of trouble. For a moment the only noise were the sounds of men training till Hugo asked.

'Any other drills you perform?'

'Of course.'

Came a curt reply. Hugo was unfazed and asked for details. Kannei sighed but gave a loud signal which was followed by the drilling guards to stop their current task and form ranks, another order was given and the men changed formation taking a more aggressive stance. Kannei turned to Hugo.

'Like these ones.'

Hugo did not reply immediately but his face was set in a scowl as he nodded slowly.

'Thank you, that answered my questions.'

Kannei frowned at the remark but decided not to bother asking for a clarification, merely turned around and gave another order. Hugo nodded again before turning to address Shutai.

'Shutai. Could you take me to Sonsaku?'

The girl nodded in confirmation before, trying to piece together the conversation she had heard with the request.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

'That insufferable flat chested bitch!'

Ensho allowed herself an honest statement, safe from unfriendly ears in her lodgings within the capital and fortified by wine. Downing the remnants in her cup she slammed the empty vessel against the table.

'All this bloodshed and all I have to show is a mere administrative position! She even bypassed me to promote one of her lackeys to commander in chief!'

Bunshu was quick to refill her lords cup even as she replied.

'What's the fuss about? You killed the eunuchs when they threatened your position, why not do the same to this Totaku?'

'Because, you dim-witted brigand, we outnumbered the imperial guard two to one whereas Totaku outnumbers us three to one even if I bring in all possible reinforcements. To say nothing of the fact that attempting two coups in a month might tarnish my reputation.'

"And you have no trouble doing that anyway" Bunshu thought but wisely decided not to voice it. Ganryo, who had been standing silently till, spoke up.

'My lord can feel free to call me an idiot…'

'But what, idiot?'

'But maybe we could remove Totaku without tarnishing our reputation too much.'

There was no reply but Ensho's gaze was fixed squarely on Bunsho, which she took as permission to continue.

'If I may draw attention to the fact that there is a second "flat-chested bitch" present in the capital.'

Ensho face brightened as she realized what her retainer was suggesting.

'Get Soso to do the dirty work? I like the idea. I take you have a concept on how exactly to do this?'

*::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::":::::::":::

Totaku reread the document before firmly planting the prime ministers seal to it. 'No' she corrected herself, 'My seal'. With a new emperor in place and her having the largest army near the capital it was no surprise that she was nominated first amongst ministers, doubly so since it had been agreed on by herself and the other lords in the capital. She rolled the bamboo scroll up and secured it, passing the ready document to Kaku who took it before handing it to the waiting servant.

'Deliver this to Soso Motoko with due haste.'

The messenger gave a short confirmation before leaving, the doors slamming shut behind him. Totaku leaned back in the chair with a sigh, Kaku glaring at the door as she muttered.

'Why on earth did that freak want this kind of pause between delivering the nominations?'

'Were you to know that "that freak" would have told you.'

Came a voice from behind the girls, both turning sharply at the unexpected sound. The familiar robbed figure leaned against the wall, unseen eyes bearing heavily on the two.

'And why are we to not know? How do you expect us to do this properly if you only give us half assed information you Taoist frea…'

Kaku's reply was cut short, as the warlock seemed to simply appear before her cutting the air from her lungs by lifting the woman off her feat by the neck. Kaku's hands grabbed at the mans arm in an attempt to pry his fingers away and get some air into her lungs but the warlock seemed to not notice her attempts.

'Why is it that you people refuse to simply accept your task without question or insults? Is it really so difficult?'

Kaku did not reply, slowly going blue but someone else managed to.

'Release her!'

The warlock turned its hooded head to look at Totaku who, though loosing some of her nerve managed to stand her ground.

'Please.'

The warlock held Kaku a moment longer before letting her go, the strategist just managing to stop herself from falling to the floor by grabbing the desk where she stood, massaging her neck.

'So nice to hear polite language. Now, prime minister, please pay attention as I must inform you what you are to do now.'

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::.::::::::::::::::::::::::::::.

The first thing that was beyond questioning was the pain. A skull splitting headache that had been combined with a dry throat and a churning stomach to make for one miserable wakening. Gakushin groaned as she stood up, briefly wondering why she was on the ground before shuffling to the table in the hopes of finding something to drink, she found nothing and cursed as another wave of nausea hit her. Than the memory as to why they had been drinking came to her and she briefly checked her clothes, heaving a sigh of relief when she realized that they were still on.

The general would like to think herself above such prejudice as displayed by some in the service of Soso but over time one would always find some elements of another's behaviour would find its way into your own. Her eyes swept the tents interior, resembling something across the aftermath of a typhoon and a bar fight though she couldn't quite place where the sheepskin had come into play. She paused as if trying to place what was missing before the sight of the two responsible for the drinking and she had to fight the temptation to kick Riten and Ukin awake.

What truly convinced her to spare them was the thought of the effort involved made her stomach lurch and she decided to find something to drink first. Remembering that she had had a leather trough set up nearby to water her horse she left the tent, ignored the sentry and shuffled to the water. Ignoring the form that had already submerged its head in the water she dunked her head, keeping it there till her lungs hurt. Resurfacing she had to wait a moment for the water to clear before she could see again finding herself facing what was missing in the tent and the primary cause for her current suffering, the messenger of heaven. The man looked at her with bloodshot eyes for a moment as if it not remembering her before nodding.

'Morning.'

He said.

'Morning.'

She replied. Both hissed at the pain the simple phrase caused and the man picked up his shirt before pulling it on, the action being the only thing that made Gakushin realize the mans shirtless state and she averted her eyes a bit too slow to not notice certain details. The man did not seem to notice her movement as he sighed.

'I am not going to drink that much again.'

'Agreed.'

The two fell into silence again and observed the camp as it gradually shifted to daytime activities, men picking themselves up with a variety of curses before urinating, washing and looking for food. Perhaps that was what prompted Gakushin to realize the state of her bladder and she made a hasty excuse before leaving for some privacy. During that time she attempted to recall what had happened during the night, it started off slowly with polite conversation along with general questions but as the alcohol flowed the conversations became heated and the recollection dimmer. Gakushin sighed, so much for Sawa's brilliant idea.

By the time she was back near her tent Zhyv had completely redressed and even had his armour on and was discussing something with his aid. Seeing her he finished the conversation and sent the man away before turning to the general with a question.

'So when do we have to leave for Xu?'

Gakushin let out a moan at the thought of the march involved even as she replied.

As soon as possible. This is going to be hell for my hea…'

Her voice trailed off as she realized something about the mans sentence, she focused on what it was and asked for confirmation.

'We?'

Zhyv nodded.

'Last night you and your officers drew me a contract to continue service in Xu… you all right?'

No, she was not all right. Gakushin felt her legs give way and the nausea hit her again, they had offered to take a man to Xu… a man was coming to Xu… How the hell was she to explain this? One might ask why she simply did not disregard a contract formed when under the influence but they were in a world were everything was dependent on ones word and how one upheld it, whether one was in full metal strength at the time did not enter the equation. A spineless eunuch or other courtiers might treat their word as nothing more than air but for most of the world ones word was binding. This of course did not stop her from cursing herself for the matter or those she held responsible for her momentary lapse of judgement.

As if on queue Riten and Ukin appeared, shambling to the water with an assortment of moans and groans that somehow formed a "good morning" Gakushin stood up slowly before grabbing both by the backs of their necks, released a howl heard in the neighbouring province and began violently twirling the two around.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Stanbor found what he was looking for with surprising ease. Wishing to find out more about where he was and the general situation he had attempted to see Ryubi but found her buried under stacks of documents and a stern looking Kanu who informed him that they "did not have time to help him because somebody (she emphasised that word and sent a glare at her sister) did not do her work properly while she was away" Instead she suggested that he ask Shokatsuryo (soon clarified as the short silent one). Ignoring the silent plea for help from Ryubi (for some reason the glare Kanu had on made him think of the monk who taught him letters and numbers and did not want to risk seeing whether there were other similarities) he left the room and began his short search.

He found the girl not in her office but under a tree in the citadels garden as directed by a servant. Shokatsuryo apparently spent most of her breaks there and he found her reading, the remnants of a snack nearby. Not wanting to startle her he did not attempt to be silent and greeted her from a distance, turned out he didn't need to be so considerate as even that was enough to make the girl jolt in surprise with a cry as she turned to face her guest.

'Messenger! Hawwawa… I mean why… what… hawawa.'

Before she descended into a series of deep breaths. Stanbor raised both hands in a calming gesture.

'Sorry for startling you. I had questions and Kanu suggested you were best suited for the task.'

'I see.'

She replied as she sighed. She had turned a brilliant shade of red, avoided his eyes and fidgeted making Stanbor reach the conclusion that she was either very shy or not used to dealing with people. However as he asked his questions the blush and fidgeting disappeared as Shokatsuryo took on a serious expression as she thought over her the matter before offering an answer making the man slowly admit that coming to the girl for answers was a good idea. A slight smile appeared on his face more or less at the same time that Shokatsuryo looked up and suddenly she stuttered and looked away with a brilliant blush. 'Definitely shy' the man nodded to himself.

'Um… was there anything else messenger?'

'Not at the moment. Well. If you could try to address me as Stanbor rather than "messenger"?'

For some reason the blush deepened and Shokatsuryo stuttered something in reply that sounded like confirmation the man decided to take pity on the girl and turned to leave.

'I'll leave you to your…'

He paused as something barred his way. It was small, barely reaching his thigh and looked up at him with large eyes opened almost as wide as her mouth.

'You're big!'

The thing greeted him in a cheerful voice. Before Stanbor could think of anything to say in reply a voice sounded nearby.

'Riri! Don't run off like that.'

The voices owner appeared in the form of the one Stanbor thought was called Kocho. She paused when she saw him and Shokatsuryo before delivering a radiant smile.

'Ara? Did I interrupt something?'

Shokatsuryo went extremely red as she began stuttering something incoherent accompanied by a lot of arm waving, Stanbor was about to answer but was interrupted by Riri as she decided to draw attention to a fact.

'Mom! Look at him! He's huge!'

'Yes he is.'

Stanbor wasn't exactly sure why he did it but he picked up the girl and tossed her up, caught her and delivered her to the ground again. Riri went silent during the entire occurrence and when she was back on the ground she looked up at Stanbor who had enough time to wonder whether she was going to cry when she shouted.

'Do that again!'

The man looked to Kocho who was looking at the scene in silence. The smile she had on previously was replaced by a more thoughtful one and when she noticed the mans questioning look she nodded her consent. This time when picked up and tossed upwards Riri emitted a sound somewhere between a laugh and a squeal and when on the ground she proceeded to ask for another go.

'What if you're bothering Shokatsuryo?'

Stanbor asked. The giggling stopped and Riri looked to the girl in question who had stood up and was collecting her things.

'Hawa? I need to get back to work so feel free to play Riri.'

At the answer the girl turned back to Stanbor with a wide grin and lifted her arms in expectation of another go. Stanbor hesitated; dealing with children was never something he had done and the confrontation set him wondering how to approach the matter. A quick glance to the mother was of no help as she had started conversing about some political matter the man sighed and turned to Riri.

'How about something quieter?'

The girl tilted her head as her smile was replaced with a curious expression.

'Like?'

Stanbor did not know. Boys playing involved a lot of shouting, running, fighting and bleeding, he had no idea what girls did when playing but he decided it was probably somewhat different, out of desperation he chose a calmer game. Picking two weeds at random he offered one to Riri, shifting her grip so she held it firmly at both ends before threading his behind and holding it likewise.

'At "go" you pull your weed and I pull mine. The winner is the one that doesn't break.'

The girls expression did not show much but she pulled enthusiastically enough at "go". With a snap her weed broke and she looked at the remnants in her hands before dropping them. Stanbor began thinking about something else to play but was stopped as Riri declared,

'Again!'

Before she ran off and began sorting through the plants nearby. Stanbor couldn't help but congratulate himself on his idea.

'Thank you for playing with her. She does not have an abundance of playmates in the citadel.'

Stanbor turned to see Kocho kneeling next to him, Shokatsuryo having apparently left. He shrugged as he responded.

'Not a problem, though I doubt I'm a proper substitute. I'm not exactly knowledgeable in how girls play.'

'At this age they play the same way, well almost the same, but most games work for both.'

The man nodded but any further conversation would have to wait as Riri returned, proudly brandishing an impressive looking weed, demanding a rematch.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Four pairs of eyes bored into him though Hugo did not seem to mind as he went through his idea, presenting his case to Sonsaku, the others in the room were her sister Sonken and their strategists Shuyu and Ryomo. When he had first approached it seemed that they were in a meeting of sorts and the table was littered with maps, charts and stacks of scrolls. Hugo had expected to be told to wait but the sentry who reported his arrival quickly came back and said he was asked to enter. He was greeted by three glares and a polite inquiry as to his reason for coming to see her from Sonsaku.

He had therefore explained his suggestion drawn from his observations and when he finished he did not have to wait long for a reply.

'Surely we don't have the resources for this… experiment?'

Sonken turned to her sister.

'We are already stretched thin and diverting more men and material for this will only a larger strain on the population.'

Her voice was supported by that of Ryomo who also pointed out the logistic problems that would be involved. Sonsaku leaned in on the table and nodded.

'I am inclined to agree with you Renfa.'

She paused as she traced a finger along a map before stopping the motion.

'Meirin. I want scouts here, it looks like the road might not be suitable for an army to use.'

Shuyu looked in at the point indicated and confirmed. Hugo frowned and made ready to leave when Sonsaku stopped him.

'Hugo, these men you would be training… they would fight like you?'

Hugo turned his attention back to the governor as he replied,

'I would train them to fight in a fashion like I do, to fight like me I would need a decade and different equipment.'

Sonken seemed ready to say something but stopped when she saw the expression her sister had. Hands folded Sonsaku looked directly at Hugo who stood still, holding her gaze till she nodded and turned to the others at the table.

'Find him a unit and the equipment he needs.'

'I'd prefer cavalry.'

Hugo interrupted as he moved to the table; Sonsaku glanced to Shuyu who shook her head.

'We have none to spare.'

'You'll have to make do with infantry.'

Sonsaku paused as if considering the matter.

'Treat it as a trail period. Show me what you can do. If successful I'll find you the men and resources you need.'

If anyone wanted to complain they did not as The Eldest Son looked at each in turn, with a nod she turned back to Hugo.

'Take a seat messenger, give us a full list of what you need.'

::::::::::::::::::::""":::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The scroll hit the wall, the string holding the strips of bamboo together snapping sending the individual pieces to the ground. The officers in the room exchanged glances at Soso's sudden outburst but none were willing to risk speaking too soon. Soso's glare finally faded and she sat down with a frustrated sigh that was treated as an invitation talk.

'Bad news I take it.'

Kakoen offered. Soso glanced to her before slowly nodding.

'I've been appointed "Colonel who arranges the army"'

'That doesn't sound so bad.'

Kakoton offered with a shrug of her shoulders.

'It's a meaningless position that will drain resources and benefit only the court, the prime minister to be more exact.'

Juniku replied before Soso could. Kakoton seemed to think about it for a moment before asking,

'So why don't we refuse, or confront Totaku about it?'

'And have myself labelled rebel and mutineer? No.'

Soso began before falling silent as thoughts formed in her mind. Juniku stood up from her seat as a similar thought entered her mind.

'Could they actually want us to react like that?'

'Why would they risk insulting us?'

'Pretext. As good a reason to attack us as any. Taking into account they outnumber us nearly ten to one they could do it quickly and than play up our threat to stability or whatever as explanation to others and the amount of people Totaku would have to share power with is reduced.'

Soso explained, resting her chin in her hands as she thought over the matter.

'But how do we turn this situation around… Keifa!'

'Yes?'

Juniku straightened at her name. Soso paused for a moment before speaking.

'I want word on what the emotions in Ensho's camp is, we might be able to drag them into the mess with us.'

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

**Just some notes from me. Some people might question the problem of holding formations that I prescribe to the Chinese, to the best of my knowledge it is a fact born from an emphasis on single combat and a lack of a military culture in peacetime. Of course the same problems are prescribed to European medieval armies which I know for a fact so it might be false as well… whatever the case I'll go with a stance that the Chinese in the story are trained in formations but due to their lack of experience and training are not very good at it and when you add the problem of adrenaline pumping through the soldiers veins…**

**The fortification I described seems to have been standard for China and was also known in Europe, though the method had been completely abandoned by Europeans by the early middle ages as they found too many methods of working against such fortifications, something that didn't seem to happen in China where it remained in use for a long time.**

**I was also told that it's a good idea to point out that the opinions characters express (especially OC's) are just that, opinions offered by fictional characters regarding certain elements of the world they are in.**


	4. Chapter 4

The dark was like a physical weight, leaning heavily on what little light was present as if attempting to crush it. In the gloom, darker patches of black stood in a semi circle surrounding a single shape.

'Report.'

'Everything is moving smoothly and I sincerely doubt there will be anything in the way of deviations from the plan.'

He got no further as someone interrupted him.

'And yet your attempts to remove the deviations have failed to do that, if anything you have merely caused larger deviations.'

The tone was far from an accusation, yet it caused a murmur among the hooded and many nodded their agreement. The one reporting paused and turned, as if hoping to find the one who had spoken before tilting his head towards the mass.

'Therefore proving my theory of concentrating on the primary causes of worry to be the correct course. Perhaps if you were to listen to me on that matter we would have avoided the matter of the deviations appearance in the first place.'

A single raised hand and a calm, almost silent, voice stopped what appeared to be the beginning of a fight.

'Pax. Pax. We are not here to throw accusations merely to decide whether our actions have succeeded in pushing things according to plan, despite the deviations.'

Silence fell on the room immediately and it took a motion of the hand to encourage an answer.

'I believe it safe to say that despite some… incidents, things seem to be going smoothly.'

'Any disagreements?'

There were none leading the speaker to nod slowly.

- 'Very well. We shall carry on with things as they are.'

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It was beautiful day. The sun faced little opposition in reaching the earth bringing forth a wide array of vivid colours and dark shadows. Humans and animals alike took in the sun, knowing full well it might be one of the last occasions to do so before the autumn cold set in.

One would not be able to tell within the confines of the imperial capital; there the air was frigid. The soldiers of Ensho, Soso, Totaku and the Imperial guard all viewed one another with undisguised mistrust and in one of the dozens of courtyards hands rested next to their weapons as the men stood at the ready, for how many people had come to negotiations in good will only to be murdered?

Ensho and Soso sat at opposite sides of the table, paying no more attention to the armed men surrounding them than they would to a piece of furniture for despite their differences they had enough uniting them to cooperate for a while and what united them was simple.

- 'Totaku must be removed.'

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It is surprising how little things can throw one completely off balance. Zhyv discovered this as he mounted, his leg resting in the stirrup before pushing himself up his right leg immediately went to where he expected the other stirrup to be only for it to kick air. Surprised he looked down to see that there was nothing resembling a stirrup there.

'Something wrong?'

Zhyv looked up to see the one he knew as Gakushin had levelled with him.

'I'm missing a stirrup.'

Zhyv stated simply causing a raised eyebrow.

'But you've got it there.'

Came the reply accompanied by a hand pointing at the riding aid.

'Where's the other one?'

'Other one?'

'Why would you add another one?'

Riten who had rode up at that moment asked this; Zhyv did not seem to mind the interruption as he turned to her and pointed down.

'Balance primarily. Easier to move around too.'

Nobody said anything for a moment, merely stared at the man as if he had suddenly grown another head before Ritens' eyes shot wide open as she exclaimed,

'Brilliant! Why didn't anyone think of this before! No, wait a moment. How would you set it up so we don't break the horses back?'

'Wait a moment.'

Zhyv replied as he slid from the saddle followed by Riten and the two engaged in a technical discussion about the matter accompanied by a gestures and drawings in the dirt.

'Oy!'

Gakushin tried to get their attention and failed. Ukin rode up and looked down.

'Yeah, Mao just entered invention mode, she'll be back when she's hungry.'

Gakushin looked down, looked to Ukin and looked back at the soldiers slowly forming ranks for the march back to Xu.

'We don't have time for this!'

'Well you could always bash them outside the head and lash them to the saddle.'

Gakushin let out a snort before pausing and looking down on the oblivious duo with a thoughtful expression, seriously considering that option.

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'Shields high!'

In a relatively smooth motion the hundred men lifted their shields above their heads making a roof above them, protection from missiles that would at some point rain down on them. There was little wait before the next order came.

'Forward!'

The men moved, shields held high, the wood they were made from still pale and smelling of the workshop.

'Keep the line even! Rao, you son of a bitch! Disrupt the formation like that again and I'll personally flog you!'

The called soldier reddened at being chastised and held back, the line smoothing out and continued its advance.

'At my word!' – A pause that seemed to drag on. One second. Two seconds. Three seconds… - 'Attack!'

The shields lowered and the formation broke into a run, the line becoming jagged again, uneven but slowing and drawing close again in front of their target a line of other soldiers, crouching behind their own shields.

'Halt!

At the order the men stopped and looked up to their officer. Hugo scowled as he strode up to the men gifted to him, grabbed one by the back of the neck and pushed him towards the waiting shield wall.

'You're not supposed to stop in front of it! You're to run into it!'

This was greeted by long stares and muttered comments. Hugo scowl deepened before he sighed. Taking the shield of one of the men he slid his arm into the strap and pulled the sling over his head.

'Shieldwall! Brace!'

The men dug in their heels and put their weight into their shield arms as the awaited for what would follow. The knight stretched silently before bursting into a run, slamming his shield into the waiting line a moment later. The blow sent two men staggering and Hugo thrust his other arm against the shield, adding even more force into his attack, knocking the two back and setting a wave through the line as the shock passed through the locked shields.

-'Run into it! Shoulder to shoulder with others, with the rest of the formation backing you up you'll disrupt them, break their line making it easy to kill them!'

Turning to the shieldwall he continued.

- 'And you are to brace for the impact! Rear ranks to push against the front. The combined weight will keep the formation whole and let you kill the enemy when they stagger back.'

Tossing the shield back to its owner Hugo strode aside.

'Again!'

This time a number of men ran into the waiting shield wall, most bouncing off but a few succeeding in pushing the shield bearers back or outright knocking them off balance. There is something in men that stops them from doing things that could easily end in death, and running headlong into a mass of enemies was one such thing. Suppressing such instincts would do much to improve the combat worthiness of the men he had been given.

In the course of the days that had passed he had drilled them in the formations he saw as necessary after first modifying their equipment to the standards he knew. Despite his rather abrupt manner he was fairly pleased with the way it was going.

'Am I to understand that things are going well?'

'Well enough.'

He replied with a slight tilt of his head, the most humble greeting anybody could expect from a knight. Sonsaku did not seem to mind the lack of reverence though those around her still occasionally shot the man dirty looks over the insult.

'How long till they will be combat worthy?'

Freshly shaved save for a fashionable (in his worlds opinion anyway) beard the action of scratching his cheek no longer caused a sound so his slight grunt was easily heard as he considered the matter.

'They could be deployed now, in the form of static defence. I wouldn't trust them on the offence yet or in the conducting of complicated manoeuvres. Perhaps another week till they'll be competent in all regards… bear in mind I have to override their initial training.'

'Not too much I hope. I've seen them do a lot of training in formation but little in arm bearing.'

The mans attention shifted to the speaker, a woman he did not recognize as yet was the one who spoke. Noticing the fact Sonsaku extended a hand in the speakers direction.

'This is Kogai, general in the service of the Son.'

Both sides tilted their head in silent greeting while sizing each other up. Longhaired, sturdy frame, big though somewhat saggy chest… The man decided they were about the same age and would have put on a smile were it not for what she had said.

'I have to. The swordplay might be interesting but it won't win battles. That…' – he paused and pointed at the two lines of men pushing at each other, - '…wins battles.'

'Be aware that the Son have triumphed in many battles with our own concepts.'

The beginning of an argument was cut short by single word.

'Stop.'

Both sides stopped, for though the word was not particularly loud it did contain a note of steel in it with a stern face to match.

'Hugo is training these men to his standards on my invitation.'

Kogai nodded and Sonsaku turned to Hugo.

'That said the Son have achieved countless victories with our methods.'

The man nodded. For a moment nobody said anything before Sonsaku's face lightened in a wide grin and she spoke in a much more pleasant manner.

- 'I know! Lets have a mock battle! Hugo can show off what he does best and we'll show him how we do it.'

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Stanbor stood up with a satisfied sigh. He had successfully modified his saddle and now looked at the twin stirrups and felt some pride with himself at being able to make something like this. He was sorely tempted to test it immediately as he dusted his hands on his trousers as he wondered whether he was free. The man paused as he considered things; he had already put the men assigned to him through morning drill, he had submitted a request for material and he had enjoyed a hearty breakfast… The man nodded as he decided the important stuff was already done.

With that somewhat less than admirable attitude the man picked up the saddle and headed to the stables where he found somebody already hard at work. Several horses were out of their pens held by their bridles by the small form of Batai. He looked around and found what he had expected to see; Bacho was nearby preparing grooming kit.

'Morning.'

At times one could be surprised by how a single word can cause such extremely different reactions. Batai turned, flashed a cheeky grin and returned the greeting Bacho on the other hand jumped as if burned, glared than looked to the side as if troubled while mumbling a reply. "Which one of you is the older one again?" Stanbor thought as he marvelled at how much more at ease the younger of the cousins was.

'Grooming?'

'A ride first. To the river, give them a bath and than back.'

'Sounds like fun, mind if I tag along?'

'No problem.'

'Tanpopo! Don't go agreeing to things just like that!'

Bacho had found her tongue. Her cousin seemed unfazed by the verbal lash as she replied.

'Do we have a reason why he shouldn't come with us?'

The elder paused before shrugging.

'I suppose not, unless he has something more important to do.'

'Don't talk about someone as if they weren't present and I was just thinking about going for a ride as it happens. I have to check if I did this properly after all.'

The man shook the saddle to emphasize his point. Noticing the oddity of a second stirrup Bacho leaned in to take a closer look.

'A second stirrup? Why?'

'Balance, easier to control the mount and you can attack with stronger blows.'

Stanbor stated while omitting to mention that riding with crouched legs clinging to the horses sides were causing him leg cramps. The two members of the Ba family looked at the invention, looked at each other before slowly nodding.

'That actually sounds like a good idea…'

Bacho nodded slowly whereas Batai decided on a more energetic approach.

'C'mon! Lets test it!'

'Of course just let me get…'

The man got no further as a bolt of white and green suddenly appeared and clung to Bacho.

'Help! She's after me!'

'Toka calm down. Who's after you?'

The bolt was of course Ryubi Gentoku, the provincial governor, currently clinging to Bacho with a look of dread firmly on her face. Instead of replying the girl continued,

'It was just a short break! I was about to do it properly but she…'

Ryubi paused, her entire body going stiff before she let go of Bacho and grabbed her head.

'She's here!'

With that she vanished, not very well however as she merely hid behind an increasingly troubled Stanbor just as an object of pure evil appeared on the scene. It's killer intent hanging in the air like the stench of death and the very sun seemed to darken at its appearance.

Ok, it was only Kanu but you can forgive the assembled for exaggerating a bit as the expression on her face did not bode well.

'Sister! Would you mind explaining to me what it was you were doing before I walked into the office?'

There was a smile on her face, which did nothing to lessen the murderous look in Kanu's eyes. Wisely the bystanders chose not to get involved. Slowly Ryubi looked out from behind Stanbors back.

'Going through documents?'

She offered with some hesitation.

'Signing Documents without reading them!'

The reply made the governess hide again while Kanu continued.

'I believe we've covered why you don't do that… Or do I have to remind you of the menma incident?'

Logic dictated that Stanbor not say anything but he found himself unable to resist.

'Menma incident?'

'Long story.'

Came the reply followed by a short pause as if Kanu had only just now realized that there were others present. Her eyes narrowed and her arms folded across her chest as she shifted her attention.

'I understand that you three are finished with your tasks since you're indulging in recreational activities?'

Three pairs of eyes made contact briefly before shifting back to Kanu.

'Of course!'

'Yeah.'

'Pretty much.'

The former bandit hunters' eyes narrowed even more.

'Oh? So if I were too, say, make a surprise inspection I would find the new conscripts trained up to standard?'

This time the silence lasted a little too long and even as Kanu moved her mouth Stanbor found himself saying.

'We happened to be discussing that just now and thought that a joint exercise would be good for the men… right?'

He ended with a glare towards Bacho, who fortunately grasped the lifeline.

'Yes! A mock battle to see what Stanbors methods produced as well as getting the men used to operating against men they don't know well!'

For a moment there was silence before Kanu nodded, her face softening.

'That actually sounds like a good idea. When do you want to stage it?'

'We were thinking to give the men some rest from the morning drill before doing so.'

'Enough time to give the horses a bit of exercise and a rubdown.'

Bacho finished the thought. Kanu thought for a moment before nodding. Though without a smile her expression had softened fully.

'Very well, we shall come see it. I think we might all learn something from it.'

'We?'

Ryubi's ears picked up at this. Kanu sighed.

'Yes, you too. Paperwork is paperwork but it takes a secondary stage to practical schooling.'

Ryubi emited a silent squeal of triumph that did not last long. Using the distraction Kanu grabbed her by the scruff of the neck.

'You can, however, start doing your paperwork. Properly.'

The governor was dragged of by her retainer while casting pleading eyes at anyone in the area, a plea everyone chose to ignore. Stanbor sighed and massaged his temple; Kanu seemed to be a nice girl but a demanding boss and showed no more mercy to allies than to enemies. He sighed again.

'I'll get my men ready.'

'Meet you on the manoeuvre ground.'

Came the sighed reply.

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'The question remains, "How do we get the knife into the woman?"'

Ensho stretched as she said this, as if emphasising the difference in stature and… size between the two officials. If Soso noticed she said nothing on the subject but looked ahead with her characteristic frown.

'Catching her somewhere without her guard will be difficult. Especially problematic will be Kayu and Ryofu. What is she again? Totaku's cousin?'

'Cousin? Hardly. A stray she picked up and began treating as such.'

Ensho paused, her sneer disappearing as she continued.

'A monster is what she is. People have stopped counting how many lives she has taken.'

The two walked in one of the many gardens within the capital, they're retainers ensuring that nobody would come close enough to listen in on their conversation.

'Somewhere she doesn't have her guards with her… the baths?'

'Do you have access to them?'

'Find out who to bribe and we will.'

The two stopped on a bridge, the fish in the pond below immediately swimming to the surface at their arrival expecting a meal.

'If we are going into the subject of bribery, why not see if there would be someone willing to slip poison into her food or a dagger between her ribs?'

Ensho let out a bark of a laugh.

'It's easier to find someone to deliver information than to wield a knife, midget.'

Soso sent a glare in Enshos direction but did not take the bait. Annoyed by the fact the smile disappeared from the taller nobles face as she continued.

'Rest assured I am looking for a method but even you should know that this is a delicate action.'

The discussion lasted a moment longer before the two officials left the garden and made to their respective courts within the capital, or would have if messengers had not appeared, handing both scrolls bearing the prime ministers mark on them. In silence they unravelled the bamboo and studied the message within, their faces growing grim before they turned and walked to each other.

'So. What shall we do with this?'

Ensho frowned before snorting.

- 'We find out who to bribe.'

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'And everything is prepared?'

'Invitations sent. Men gathered and armed. Misinformation sowed and our own spies infiltrating our enemies. We will be no better prepared for the plan than we are now.

Kaku nodded at the report, which signalled the official to return to her position amongst the others. The strategist stood back, clearing the way for Totaku herself to speak but was interrupted.

'All this skulking is making me sick! We have our enemies; we have the manpower and the will, let us just butcher them and get this over with! Maybe some of them will put up a fight.'

'You questioning the prime ministers will Choryo?'

The question came in a cold voice. Unperturbed the officer shrugged her shoulders as she replied.

'Just saying. After all with all this trickery we might lose the chance that we posses by simply being the stronger. They will expect some sort of treason.'

'Of course they will expect treason; we are in Luoyang after all. There is more treason here than water in cheap wine.'

Kayu, her voice betraying her disgust at the fact, offered the reply. Choryos lips twisted into a smile but was cut off before she could add anything to the statement.

'Like it or not that is the plan and it will be carried out, understood.'

'Yeah, yeah. Just saying my way would be more fun, right Ren?'

The last word was accompanied by an elbow to Ryofus' side. Despite this the only reply was a nod of the red headed officers head, her face showing no sign of interest.

'She agrees with me.'

'That does not matter.'

Kaku's voice silenced the room.

'You have your orders and you shall do so, understood.'

Muttered confirmations were heard followed by a silent voice that somehow cut through the room louder than any shout.

'Is that all?'

'Yes, it is.'

'Than I'll leave now.'

With a slight tilt of the head Ryofu left the room accompanied by the eyes of the others. Totaku likewise rose from her seat where she had observed the meeting and left followed by Kaku. As the doors shut behind those leaving Kayu walked to Choryo.

'Sometimes I wonder whether letting that "cousin" of Yue's join us was a good idea.'

Choryo did not reply immediately and when she did her voice was devoid of the energy it usually held.

'You saw her in battle as well as I did. I'd rather feel uncomfortable standing next to her than on the opposite side of the field.'

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At times no matter how much effort you put into something you never seem able to make a change, Kakuka was currently in such a situation. With most of the officers gone the amount of documents reaching her desk had increased and no matter how much she did the amount did not seem to decrease. The moment she decided there was no more to be written on a scroll Teiiku showed up with another batch causing the woman to slam her head into the desk in exasperation.

'Trouble?'

Teiiku asked in a tone that seemed to imply she did not care about the answer, Kakuka however had known her long enough to pick up it was an authentic inquiry and she forced her head up.

'Trouble with quantity rather than difficulty, I got a feeling a got most of the mundane matters in my hands now that Karin is in Luoyang… how are you managing?'

'Pretty well, as you noticed it's more about the amount rather than the matters contained in them.'

'That and the fact that they're in the capital! Thinking about all the food and luxuries at their fingertips makes me angry!'

The last was given in a different voice, resembling that of a young boy. Teiiku looked up towards her headgear.

'Now, now, Houkei. You know as well as I do that they are there on business, not pleasure.'

Kakuka looked away from her colleague arguing with the white puppet perched on her head with an amused smile and pulled one of the scrolls towards her as the puppet "replied".

'Bah! As if that ever stopped Soso! Right now I bet she's already found a way to take one or two of the imperial concubines for herself! The things she might be up to…'

Kakuka's eyes shot open as she looked up, only to slide into a dazed expression as her mouth curled into a smile some would say resembled that of a perverted old man.

'Rin, your blood is dripping on the scroll.'

Kakuka looked to Teiiku, looked down and jumped to her feet, trying to both stop the blood flowing from her nose and move the scroll to safety and failing at both tasks. With a miniature tragedy unfolding it was naturally that moment that the door opened and a soldier stuck his head in. The sight gave him pause thought the look on his face was more along the lines of "Again?" rather than "What?" and he quickly reported the reason for his entrance in an undisturbed voice.

'General Gakushin has just returned.'

'Hm? Ah! Yes… excellent… thank you.'

Kakuka managed to reply; growing increasingly red in the face as she attempted to solve the problems she was struggling with. As the door shut behind the soldier Teiiku began moving the puppets arms as it "spoke".

'About time they showed up! How long did they want to spend investigating that report?'

'Now, now Houkei, be nice. I'm sure they came back the moment they could.'

Kakuka bent her head back as she attempted to stop the blood flowing from her nose as the "conversation" continued.

'Good. Maybe we'll be able to shift some of the paper work on them.'

'Shall we ask them?'

Teiiku's question followed Houkei's demand, her voice as passive as ever. Kakuka shrugged as she gingerly pulled her hand from her nose pleases to see no more blood flowing.

'Let's go.'

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'Food!'

'Hot water!'

'Food and a hot bath!'

Ukin and Riten exclaimed as they slid from their saddles, servants immediately moving up to take the horses to the stables. Two somewhat hollow cracks later left the duo clutching their heads with a somewhat irate Gakushin standing over them.

'First make sure your horses are stabled properly and that your men have checked their gear.'

'Then check your own gear and write down any reports needed.'

Ukin interrupted adopting a philosophical pose followed by Riten who merely exclaimed.

'Than a bath and food!'

Gakushin looked at her companions with a scowl before grinning.

'And than a bath and food.'

She agreed. With the promise of creature comforts any unhappiness at the prospect of work evaporated and the trio started the job of fulfilling their tasks when Riten remembered something and turned around.

'Oy! Stop gawking and get moving Zhyv!'

The man some declared to be a messenger from heaven had not been gawking, though he was not far from it. He had been silent ever since the small force entered the city of Xu and he would twist his head from one side of the street to the other as he observed the sheer "foreignness" of what he saw. Once the initial shock and curiosity passed his observations took a more practical manner and he took quick note of the fortifications of the citadel. At his name he turned to the trio and made his way to them. Many eyes followed him both in the city and the citadel as the locals looked at the grey figure, shocked at how alien he looked.

The reminder of their foreign guest made the grin disappear from Gakushins' face as she was reminded of the task ahead of her. Soso was always on the lookout for talented individuals to serve her however she did have certain preferences and no matter how you looked at it Zhyv did not fulfil them for he was undeniably, unashamedly one hundred percent male, if only he were a pretty boy at the least!

Due to an ill advised attempt on using the loosening effects of alcohol on the tongue to get information from the man had failed to gain anything bar an interesting but lengthy story of a battle near a place none of them heard of against a foe that none of them heard of. Apart from that the inebriated trio swore to recommend the man to their lord resulting in their current situation.

'Ah! Rin and Fu came to greet us.'

At this several heads looked up to see that Kakuka and Teiiku had indeed entered the citadels courtyard and were heading towards the officers.

'Nagi, Mao, Sawa. Welcome back. I take it you've succeeded.'

'The province is clear of turban remnants, thousands killed, thousands more dragged into captivity.

Riten reported with a grin till Gakushin interrupted.

'Is Soso back?'

'Still in Luoyang with the rest. We got word from her recently… it seems we may have to prolong the conscription this year.'

Despite the fact that all knew that prolonging the conscription meant Soso expected trouble the trio sighed with relief as they omitted one unpleasant task. Kakuka and Teiiku shared a glance before turning back.

'I understand that sigh of relief has something to do with the iron man behind you.'

Kakuka asked causing the three to look at each other nervously before they looked to the confused Zhyv before looking back at each other. It was Riten who broke the silence by slamming a hand on the mans shoulder (she regretted the act as not only did she have to stretch to do so but she ended up slapping his mail which was far from comfortable) and stating.

'This, is the messenger of heaven.'

Jaws dropped and silence fell in the courtyard so complete that one heard a sentries spear clatter on the ground.

'I see.'

Was the best Kakuka could come up with. "Houkei" decided to contribute its own opinion.

'At least this one looks the part.'

That, at least, was true. As always in times of trouble "holy men" were cheaper by the dozen preying on the fears of others to build power, the three Cho's being the most infamous. But this one did look the part.

Broad shouldered with a thin waist, grey eyes set in a sun burnt face that was just visible underneath armour of the type none had seen before. No matter how you looked at him he was most definitely different. There was however one considerable problem.

'He is male.'

'Yes.'

Kakuka stood, finger still indicating Zhyv with Gakushin standing with a troubled expression in front of her. Zhyv meanwhile was looking from one woman to the other before turning around with a silent question to Riten and Ukin, the duo offering sheepish shrugs in reply. He turned round again as he heard movement and found himself looking at a puppet, a puppet that was attached to a girl looking at him with an expression that would look more in place on a man who has seen everything the world has to offer.

'You are the messenger of heaven?'

She asked.

'People call me that.'

Came the mans guarded reply. Teiiku nodded and looked to the three officers.

'Why did you guys believe him?'

After a short pause the reasons were offered.

'Because of how he looks.'

'Because he uses a lot of words that mean nothing but obviously mean something to him.'

'Plus he cuts through flesh, bone and armour just like that.'

'Why? Hell I don't know…. It just seems… right, you know?'

During this Zhyv stood nearby looking increasingly uncomfortable, wondering whether he should explain why he most certainly was not heavens messenger when he found himself looking at the puppet resting on the head of the shortest amongst the girls again. He shifted his gaze down and the two stood in a staring competition for a moment until Teiiku grabbed the man by his arm and pulled him towards the palace.

'Let's talk, messenger.'

Kakuka shrugged and followed along with the three officers, though only after the trio shared a look and breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Now to convince the two strategists to help them convince Soso that this was a good idea.

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'Shields high!'

Men knelt and lifted their shields above their heads in one smooth motion, a moment later and the sound of arrows hitting the thick wood sounded, broken by the occasional cry of someone who had not hid himself properly.

'Advance!'

Shields still forming a roof the mass of men moved forward, arrows still clattering off. The formation closed the distance between them and their enemies and the archers gave ground, letting spearmen forward who charged the shielded men.

'Break off!'

The shields came down, the men standing straight before overlapping their shields to form a solid mass of wood to the spears. Met with a solid line the spearmen slowed down before stopping, stabbing at the shieldwall in the attempt to find a weakness, and finding little.

'Kill!'

The shieldwall rippled and broke as men rushed forward, pushing spears to the side even as they brought their swords around for a blow. Men fell with cries and curses as the two formations became tangled.

'Hold formation!'

Chastened the shield bearers shuffled back into what could be called a formation before continuing to push into the spears ranks. They in turn pushed back in the attempt to put enough distance between them and lashed out, attempting to catch the legs below or the heads above the shields.

'Push forward!'

The shieldmen did so and suffered at first as the spears found holes in the defence but soon the spearmen found themselves pushing back to keep the distance, difficult with the swords of the shieldmen hacking at them.

A gong sounded and the fighting stopped immediately. Heavy, wooden training weapons were put aside and men looked to the fallen. Despite al the best efforts to limit the dangers of training men still suffered breakings, concussions and even death, the prospect a firm reminder to the soldiers training as to why they should strive to do their best to avoid being hit and the casualties offered plenty of opportunities for the medics to keep their skills sharp.

'Attention!'

The men formed ranks and stood at the ready waiting their dismissal, the moment it came the moved off and a hubbub of conversation immediately starting. Stanbor sighed as he slid his helmet off. Not far away Bachou did likewise and the two made their way to the others. The "others" consisted of Ryubi, Kanu, Choun, Shokatsuryo and Kochu who were sitting at a table, laid out with a decent meal on it in the shade of several large trees. As the duo approached the conversation ended as Kanu turned to them, trying hard not to let her smile show.

'Well, I guess you weren't lying when you said you were training your men.'

She said as she gestured to the empty chairs, the two accepting the invitation with pleased sighs. Cups appeared almost immediately before them, the servants quietly sliding in and out of sight. Stanbor could not help a grimace at the sight of tea and briefly wondered whether asking for beer would be considered impolite.

'So that is how heaven fights its battles.'

Kochu sighed, eyes on the training ground where the wounded were still being collected.

'I wasn't expecting it to be so straightforward, what do you think Shuri?'

Shokatsuryo's reaction to the simple question was a flustered waving of her arms, reddening of the face followed by a stammered.

'Well… it was… effective…I think, no… er… Effective though… somewhat straightforward.'

'Be that as it may it was effective, and that is what matters isn't it?'

Choun intervened on Stanbors account, as she sipped her drink.

'A moment longer and I dare say your men would've broken, Sui.'

Bacho snorted at the suggestion but did not say anything; afraid Choun would twist her words till they resembled what she wanted. Stanbor listened though he focused his attention on the sworn sisters. Kanu and Ryubi were deep in a hushed conversation and Stanbor found himself comparing the two.

There was little in way of family resemblance, hardly a surprise as they were not siblings by blood, they both had good figures and that was about it. Kanu was, for a lack of a better word, hard. She most definitely looked like someone who spent a hefty part of her life hunting brigands and even without the presentation on their first meeting the man would not doubt her ability in arms. Ryubi on the other hand looked, for a lack of a better word, soft. Her features, her manners the way she backed down if someone questioned her statement made her seem so and yet so many skilled people were happy acknowledging her as their lord… it seemed that that which made formidable was not something obvious to the eye.

A question was directed towards him and the man stopped his thoughts on the sisters and moved to the subject at hand.

'Sorry. How I would do what?'

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'If I had sufficient resources I'd have plenty more infantry to hold the front and push forward, archers in support keeping the enemy occupied. Cavalry on the flanks being the main force, either probing and harassing the enemy or breaking through their ranks and sending them running.'

Hugo stated in reply to the question of how he would have done a battle.

'That's it?'

Came the question. The man shrugged.

'In an overly simplified way, yes. Too much depends on the quality of the men, the type of enemy, the terrain and a dozen other factors for me to give a proper answer to that question.'

'Fair enough.'

Sonsaku sighed as she turned to the others at the table. Seated around were a collection of officers and strategists, many still covered in dust from the recent manoeuvres. Ryomo, as the junior most member at the table spoke first.

'I find no faults with our traditional formations so I shall already move the main problem of where to put the…' – She paused and cast a look to Hugo and Sonsaku before continuing, - 'Messenger. His men seem to lack the speed of our own men but seem able to hold formation to a better degree. As such I would suggest to keep them in the second, or even third wave. There we wouldn't have to worry about their slow manoeuvres causing too many problems while their coherency would be a boon should we need to bolster a faltering front or guard from the rear.'

Rikuson was next to speak;

'I believe Ashe's idea is sound, the near obsession Hugo has with keeping his men in formation will make them the best bet in protecting the rear or bolstering a faltering line.'

Hugo's protest to being described as having an obsession was ignored and eyes turned to the senior most strategist. Shuyu did not reply immediately as she thought the matter over before shrugging.

'I see no faults with the concept other than ensuring that the man would know orders and how to react.'

'Only way to solve that matter would be to train.'

Hugo's blunt statement caused a moments silence interrupted only by Sonsaku as she clapped her hands, drawing attention to herself.

'There we have it! So, make sure to work extra hard from now on everyone! I want the enemies of the Son pissing themselves at the sight of our banners.'

She smiled brightly as she turned from one to another, the smile only disappearing after she noticed a messenger coming up.

'I guess that means my sister wants me to get back to politics… bother. Go through some manoeuvres and I'll try to get back in a an hour or so.'

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'As you ordered we've got all our men standing by. I have taken the liberty to delegate twenty of the best to accompany you.'

Soso listened to Kakoens report as she dressed, the first layer of robes were in place and she now was busy with finding the best place to conceal a long bladed dagger. Satisfied she nodded to the waiting servants who proceeded to help her into the outer robe.

'How much do the men know?'

'They have been told to expect treason and assault… spirits are high.'

Soso nodded as the robe was smoothed out.

'What of the others?'

'Apparently everyone is making similar preparations.'

Soso nodded and made a mental list, thinking whether there was anything more that could be done in the present situation. With a sigh she decided that she had done all she could.

'Let us go to supper than.'

There were about as many guards as there were lamps, metal glistening red in their light. Most of the guards were in the colours of Totaku; besides them however were a number in the colours of Ensho, Soso and several other officials. The groups eyed one another with suspicion and the air was heavy with tension. Over the months since the massacre of the eunuchs the capital had been the scene of a power struggle and many of the prime ministers guests have already clashed verbally.

The mood of the courtyard was carried into the hall where the officials have gathered. Theoretically they sat according to rank but many saw a pattern, those who were known to be staunch supporters of the Prime minister sat at Totakus right, with Ensho, Soso and others critics sat to her left.

The mood remained as food disappeared in silence, hushed conversations being the norm until an hour passed when Totaku stood and raised her hands to draw attention to herself.

'These past few months have been difficult but we have succeeded in restoring order to the land. Though most seem to insist that I am responsible I recognize the efforts of those who aided me in this task.'

She paused to lift a cup towards the assembled.

'Your health.'

What came next caused consternation among the gathered as rather than drink Totaku dropped the vessel, the sound of it shattering when it hit the floor sounding loudly in the silence. The guests looked to one another, some with alarm, others with grim expressions. Totaku continued.

'Or not as matters have been brought to light, matters that make drinking to your health most unsuitable. Who would willingly drink the health of a traitor after all?'

Booted feet sounded and the doors were thrown open. Armed men in Totaku's colours entered the hall, Ryofu standing behind the prime minister. The guests jumped to their feet and a dozen voices sounded in protest. Soso glanced at Ensho who, seeing the glance, nodded before turning her attention back to soldiers.

'Bind them.'

Totaku indicated the group among who stood Soso and Ensho. Weapons ready the soldiers advanced. Here something happened that made everybody pause, Ensho was laughing.

'Nice. Well said Totaku but your commanding tone needs work, something like this.'

The woman snapped her fingers and pointed in the prime ministers direction.

'Murder!'

Men screamed. Guards fell as their comrades turned and impaled them on their weapons; soon the group was surrounded by a wall of soldiers who were pulling off the scarves denoting them to be in Totaku's service. Totaku, just like many others looked at the scene with shock, Enshos voice sounding loud and clear despite the noise.

'Word of advice Totaku. When coming to new power and wealth be sure to award everyone in your service lest they feel cheated and submit to temptation. Kill her.'

At the last several men moved to the prime minister only to have their way blocked. Ryofu stroke once and sent two to the ground. A second blow cleaved a third from head to groin. The third hit air as the rest gave ground before the sudden onslaught. Fighting broke out as Ryofu led those guards not bribed by Ensho against those that changed sides, while everywhere officials were calling for their own guards.

It was a beautiful mess.

'We have to withdraw.'

Ensho looked at Soso as if she lost her mind.

'When do you think we'll have a better chance at killing her.'

She replied, indicating Toutaku being herded away from the fighting.

'When that isn't nearby.'

Soso shot back with a hand indicating Ryofu. Ensho snorted and seemed to want to say something but didn't as she saw "That" cut through another soldier.

'Fine.'

The way to the courtyard was soon littered with bodies as the ministers and their guards fought off numerous attempts by Toutakus men to break through them. Several officers greeted them when they emerged.

'Not good. Toutaku has even more men moving in, we'll be overwhelmed if we don't do something.'

Ganryo reported. Soso looked to her own men and Kakoton nodded her agreement with her counterpart's assessment.

'It seems that Toutaku has got the Imperial Guard supporting her. We're holding the gate for now but if they push more men in…'

She didn't finish and Soso swore before responding.

'Looks like we have to give up Luoyang.'

Endho summed it up nicely.

'This'll be one long night.'


End file.
